Fallout 4: New Blue World
by nothinginreturn
Summary: After 200 years on ice, the sole survivor of Vault 111 has a lot of time to make up for. As her quest for answers leads her to Diamond City, how will a certain reporter impact on the search for her son and those who took him away from her? F-SS / Piper. FO4 spoilers obviously - but will deviate.
1. Blue to Green

"There it is." The woman smirked as her ever curious companion looked up at her words. _If only Nate could see me now. Actually searching out Fenway.. Sorry - I mean Diamond City._

Sarah could still picture those memories clearly. His yells at the radio always used to irritate her. His determination to get her to accompany him to a game was cute at first. Eventually she gave in. It didn't win her over. But still he tried again and again. It never worked. Once was enough. Sometimes it seemed like he cared more about that stupid team than her. Near the end that was obviously the case.

 _And here I am searching it out. Funny how things turn out eh? Maybe you could have been my answer before. I hope you can bring me answers now._

She had woken up two months ago. Woken up to a world that wasn't hers. A cruel world. An unforgiving world. But now it was the only world she had.

Everything she knew was no more. Her way of life had been altered in what felt like seconds when in reality over two hundred years had passed. Two hundred years since the bombs fell. Two hundred years since her last words to her baby Shaun. She still pictured the memory occasionally despite her fight when she closed her eyes to try and catch some rare rest.

The man. The gun. Shaun. Nate.

 _Gone_.

It took days for her eyes to dry. As she sat alone in the ruins of her old house in Sanctuary Hills with the peppy voice of Codsworth becoming just noise in the background, she finally reached for the pistol and took it in her hand.

The choice was hers. And on the fourth day, she made it.

 _"You must know that I would accompany you mum. All you have to do is give the word."_

 _Sarah smiled. "I know you would Codsworth. But right now.. this is just something I have to do alone. I'll come back. I promise."_

Her path alone lasted for five minutes.

She didn't know where the dog had come from, whether he had an owner or not, but from the start it just felt right. Like he was supposed to join up with her and keep her safe.

 _"I'll come up with a cool name later, I promise."_ A bark that (sounded?) happy followed. _"Lets go, boy."_

The seven weeks that followed were remarkably different to her first. In seemingly no time at all had she rescued a group of people from Concord, set them up in a community back at Sanctuary (Codsworth loved having new people to talk to) and somehow had been talked into becoming the new leader of the Minuteman by Preston Garvey. And now she was travelling, offering help to those who requested it while forming new links and bonds on the way.

It was nuts. Absolutely nuts.

 _Somehow I've woken up in the future. I'm leading a.. I don't even know what this is really, some kind of good-guy save the world troop? And bloody dead people and monsters keep trying to kill me. One day this'd make a good book._

 _Do people still write books?_

Sarah had to adjust quickly to her new world. Gone was the simple way of life. As she reached Starlight Drive-in she couldn't help but smile as she remembered the initial dates that she and Nate had shared there. It was the creatures that had attacked from underground that quickly brought her out of that memory. It was then she knew that she had to close off those thoughts. Because those thoughts were going to get her killed.

 _This is it - right now, this is it. Thinking of the past will get you nothing but death. Focus. Move._

She had her initial slips once and a while as she wandered, but for the most part, Sarah keyed in and focused on the present. Because despite her initial fears - it wasn't all bad. There were people out there trying, earning and living a full life. She was awed by some of the determination from those she came across to succeed, to be part of something better. It gave her hope. It gave her fire as even on the toughest nights as she hugged her rifle closely that there was something better out there in this world.

Through everything that had occurred on her path, it had taken two months to reach Diamond City. She had met monsters and men, synths and soldiers. After a month she didn't even believe that she was seeing things anymore. After everything she was seemingly walking into, it no longer was a surprise when she ran across something even more horrific than the last thing.

 _"Robots? Check. Hey, er, Danse right? Are there aliens here too?"_

 _"Focus, civilian."_

That man was never in much of a mood for any of her playful tones. It was something she needed to do however. Something she required so she didn't shake as much at night.

An offer from the Brotherhood of Steel came six weeks in. It tempted her. But she said no. If anything, Sarah believed Danse actually respected her a little for saying no. Which was ridiculous in theory, because everything she'd seen of the man screamed the opposite. His offer wasn't closed however - it would remain open to her if she ever changed her mind.

Sarah looked up at the walls of the stadium as Dogmeat trotted next to her, alert as ever. "Want to know something boy? It's quicker to get around here then it used to be. You wouldn't believe how much foot traffic there was before. Okay granted, I only came once and hey maybe that put me off before I even started watching the game. That and the food." Sarah looked down at her companion. "Oh don't give me that look, you never tasted it. But hell.. I could sure go for some of that now. Figures, huh?" She waved a hand carelessly at the turrets, hoping that it wouldn't open fire on them. "They weren't here before." Sarah shook her head as she turned the corner, approaching what seemed to be the main entrance.

The gate was closed with a clearly frustrated figure leaning into what looked like an intercom. Her voice became clearer as Sarah approached her slowly.

"This is ridiculous Danny! You can't let him push you around like this."

The man's voice sounded tired as it replied. "Nobody is pushing anyone around Piper. Nobody except you."

The woman, Piper, threw up her hands in exasperation. "How long have you known me Danny? Mm? Are you really going to leave me out here for the ferals to feast on?" The woman glanced to her left as she caught sight of the approaching stranger and her dog. If Sarah didn't know better, the look on the other woman's face made it seem as if she was about to be dragged into a situation that she didn't belong in.

"Psst, you there." The woman referred to as Piper tried to speak just above a whisper. "You're not from around here, are you?" She nodded towards the gate. "You want in, right?"

"How did you.."

Piper cut her off abruptly. "Just follow my lead, okay." She licked her lips, bringing her voice back to a normal volume. "You're kidding right? A whole month? Goods.. for a month?" Piper nodded extravagantly at her as her she finished lacing her words with an impressive tone.

 _Eh what the hell._ "That's right. Just over a month actually." _I have no idea what I'm doing._

"Did you hear that Danny? Our new friend here could keep Myrna stocked for a month! Do you really want to get an ear full off McDonough if you send her on her merry way to Goodneighbour?"

A grin formed on her face as the man responded. "Fine. You win, Piper. This better be worth it."

Piper took a quick glance back towards Sarah as the gate started to rise. "I'm sure it will be."

* * *

Hey! I'm Nothinginreturn.

My stories (normally) are all to do with the video game **Mass Effect.** I'm a big, big fan and I really enjoy reading many of the wonderful stories on this site. So I thought one day - why not join in? This is my first ever story to do with **Fallout.**

I don't consider myself much of a writer, but I like to think I'm a creative guy. All my stories are big on dialogue, less on action / fighting. No offence to those who love writing/reading the action, but I quickly get bored with it. All my updates are generally between 1000-2000 words: I write it, check it and post it usually within an hour.

So why this, why now? Well I've been playing Fallout 4 for the past month (so much so that it's absolutely eliminated all my writing for my ME stories - whoops) and I've quickly grown fond of Piper. Therefore - I wanted to write this. It's going to be big on Piper and Sarah, the female sole-survivor as they travel and their relationship grows. Unlike say Mass Effect where I'm usually writing around pre-existing missions and stories, I'm going to instead focus here on the two characters in question - their motivations, feelings, past and future. With Piper's help, we'll delve into Sarah's past and see how they'll write their futures together. Lots of conversational stuff, so if this isn't your cup of tea, that's fine and dandy.

If you're in for the ride, welcome! It's full steam ahead from here after this shortish intro. I didn't want to dilly-dally on pre-Diamond City stuff, but likewise, I didn't want to just put them together. So lets go, eh?


	2. Warm Welcomes

The gate was only slightly above Piper's head as she ducked under it, marching straight into Diamond City with what looked like a purpose. Sarah glanced down at Dogmeat who as always just seemed pleased to be out and about with her.

"What do you think?" A slight turn of the head from her companion as he looked up at her. "I thought so." Sarah shook off the thoughts as the gate finished raising, the woman soon stepping through the threshold and into the outskirts of the stadium. _Lets go watch some baseball._

Sarah spotted the sharply dressed man as he almost jogged over to Piper, an outstretched finger shaking in her direction. "Piper! Who let you back inside?" The man shook his head dramatically. "I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut. You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer! The sheer level of dishonesty in that paper of yours. I should have that printer of yours scrapped for parts!"

 _Paper, mm?_ Sarah glanced towards Piper who scoffed at the man's words. "Is that a statement, Mr. McDonough? Tyrant Mayor shuts down the press?"

 _Oh great. I've only been here for two minutes and I've already wedged myself into a feud between the mayor and a newspaper? Wonderful job. This is all your fault Dogmeat!_

Suddenly Piper pointed at Sarah, bringing the woman out of her own thoughts. "Lets ask the newcomer here. Do you support the news? Because the Mayor's threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster."

Sarah found all eyes on her, the mayor looking fairly ruffled by her appearance. Clearly he hadn't noticed her arrival, his eyes and bluster focused firmly on Piper. Sarah shrugged. "I guess so. I mean.. some of it, yeah. You're with a paper?"

Piper nodded. "Public Occurrences. We're the hard look at the truth."

"The truth!" McDonough almost yelled, his voice painfully close to breaking. "No, no. All you write is fiction." He coughed slightly before turning his full attention to Sarah as he flashed a seedy grin her way. "I'm sorry to catch you up in all this nonsense. I can see you're new here - so welcome! Welcome to Diamond City, the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. I'm Mayor McDonough. It is a pleasure to have you have. Please accept this as your formal welcome. Diamond City is a safe, happy, thriving community. Somewhere to settle down, perhaps. Don't let Piper here tell you otherwise, okay?"

Piper scoffed as she muttered under her breath. "Quite the sell."

"I'm probably opening up a can of worms here but what are you two arguing about anyway?" Sarah asked.

"The way things are done around here." Piper shook her head. "Print lies and everybody is happy. Tell the truth however.."

"Enough of that Piper. Our guest here clearly doesn't want to hear your ramblings. So is there anything particular you've visited our great city for? We have a number of fine dining establishments if you're hungry?" The Mayor smiled wildly, awaiting an answer.

 _Somehow I think we'll have different expectations when it comes to fine dining._ "I'm looking for something, someone actually. I hoped to find some information here. People have been telling me that this is the place for that."

"They sound like sharp and smart individuals." The mayor looked inquisitively at her. "Who are you looking for?"

It was still painful for Sarah to say. "My son, Shaun."

"Wait. Your son is missing?" Piper asked carefully. Sarah nodded in reply. The reporter rounded on McDonough. "You hear that mayor? So what's Diamond City going to do to help this woman, huh? This isn't the first missing person's report to come through here is it?"

McDonough held up his hand. "Don't listen to Piper. While I'm afraid our security team can't follow every case that comes through here, I'm confident you can find help here."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "So what you're saying is there's no type of help available from, basically, those in charge around here?"

"That's exactly what he's saying." Piper sighed.

"Look I'm sorry to dash, but I'm a very busy man and I have things that unfortunately require my attention. I have a speech to give in three hours after all, trying to clean up a mess that Piper here created through fear. But never fear, Diamond City has every conceivable service known to man. I'm sure one of our great residents will be able to help you with what you need!" The man shot a dirty look towards Piper. "Consider this your final warning, Ms. Wright. If I hear you've been making trouble again, both you and that sister of yours will be out of here!"

The mayor turned, walking away quickly as Piper muttered under her breath. The reporter turned back towards Sarah. "Feeling honored yet, getting the big ol' welcome from the mayor?"

"Honored wouldn't be the word I'd use."

Piper flashed a grin. "Yeah, I can see you're thankfully not swayed by the mans bullshit. So many who waltz through the gate are. That's why things never seem to change around here. People are scared of speaking up in case this is all taken away from them and they have to leave this haven." Piper chuckled slightly. "The thoughts that must go through their minds on having to join the ghouls they didn't vouch for when he kicked their hides over to Goodneighbour."

"Sounds like these's more trouble here than the Mayor is trying to let on about. Can their security service really not help at all?"

"Not while McDonough is in charge. For whatever reason, occurrences like yours are just flat out ignored. And you're not the first, I tell you. Look. Come to my office. We'll be able to talk freely there. Who knows, I might be able to point you in the right direction after all. Oh and if you hadn't guessed by now, I'm Piper."

"Sarah." The woman pointed down at her companion. "This is Dogmeat. And you know I'm pretty sure the Mayor told me five or six times not to listen to you, Piper." Sarah smiled with an eyebrow raised.

"Dogmeat, hm? Well if you say so!" Piper shrugged. "And yeah, he says that a lot. Some listen to him, some don't. We'll see who's right in the end. Now come on, lets go. And just from me? Welcome to Diamond City. See that's just better, isn't it? Short, sweet and to the point."

"Less of the bullshit?"

Piper grinned. "Exactly."


	3. Revelations

As they reached the top of the steps, Sarah finally began to see Diamond City at it's fullest. She couldn't help but laugh which she quickly attempted to stifle. _If only you could see what they've done to the place Nate. You'd be pulling your hair out right now. There's no game going on here, that's for sure._ Sarah glanced towards the wall. _Ah shit. What was it they used to call you. Green something. Monster? That sounds right. All I know is I couldn't hit shit over that thing._

Sarah caught Piper's glance, the reporter giving her a knowing nod. "I know what you're thinking."

"I don't think you do, Piper."

"Yeah, yeah. But I've seen that look on many fresh faces around here. For all it's problems, it's true that there's nothing quite like it. And it's home." The reporter snorted. "First timers always have that fish out of water look on their face when they see it. It's pretty nice walking around without worrying about super mutants wrecking through the streets. And McDonough is right about one thing - there's some good people here. Sure beats that stuffy vault environment, right? I can only imagine."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Why do you think I'm from a vault?"

"Come on, it's written on your face! Well it's that or that pip-boy on your arm. You don't see many of those about and hardly ever without the blue jumpsuit. So either you're a good ol' vault dweller, or you killed a man for that piece of tech. Thankfully for me I reckon it's the former."

"Oh?" Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe I killed a man for this?"

"Even with all those weapons strapped to you, nope." Piper shook her head as she began to walk down the steps. "So your son was taken from when you were in the vault, right? I didn't think there were many of those still running now. You sure it wasn't some sort of inside job?"

"I'm pretty certain that isn't the case."

Piper finally paused on the stairs. "Wait, why do you sound so confident in saying that? What happened? Hang on, hold that thought." Piper hopped down the last of the stairs. "My office is jut over here. Wait until we get inside."

"Scared somebody else might be trying to steal a scoop?"

The reporter scoffed. "Not a chance. I'm just concerned about owned ears."

Piper motioned Sarah towards a small building just to the left of the main stairwell. As she reached into her pocket for a key, Sarah took a quick 360 of her surroundings. There was a marketplace just in front of her, with some sort of church opposite. She looked up into the stands, taking note of the different buildings and locations dotted around in different sections. She had to admit, it was an impressive sight. Out of everything she had come across in the world thus far, Diamond City was by far the most built up society.

Piper opened the door and stepped inside, Sarah stepping in behind her. While the building was small it was well furnished, a sofa just to the right of the door. "Take a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"

 _A cup of tea would be lovely._ "Nothing for me, thanks."

Piper placed a bowel of water on the floor as she took a seat to Sarah's right "I'm going to be straight forward about this before I ask anything more."

"That seems to be your thing."

"Well, yeah, glad you picked up on that quickly. But I want an interview. As I said, you don't see many vaulties out and about anymore. I want to hear your perspective - your time inside, this world you've encountered, your reactions, your feelings. I think your story will fascinate people. I think it's time Diamond City had a little outside perspective on the Commonwealth. And besides, it may just help you in the long run too."

"Or get me kicked out of here?" Sarah grinned.

"Well in that case, I think you'll be getting a friend for the road. So what do you say?"

 _She seems like a genuine person. I don't know.. I just feel like I can talk to her. Probably silly given she's the press and all. And well.. it'd be good to talk to someone._

"Okay Piper, I accept."

The reporter smiled broadly. "Great. Lets get going." She reached into a pocket, bringing out a pencil and some scraps of paper. "So I know you're from a vault. Which one if I may?"

"Er, shit. I'm not sure?" Sarah laughed nervously.

"You're not sure? Come on, don't you guys have those massive numbers on the back of them fetching blue suits?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah I think so. But I didn't exactly spend a lot of time.. well, scratch that, maybe I did. Lets just say time seemed to fly when I was down there and I didn't take full stock. It's just north of Sanctuary Hills, if that helps at all."

"Time flies, huh?" Piper jotted down something on her piece of paper. "What do you mean by that?"

 _I think I'm about to change your initial story, Piper._

"My family and I were frozen. I didn't spend much time at all in the vault - in a matter of speaking, anyway."

Sarah could see the gears begin to turn more rapidly in the reporters mind as she put down the pencil. "Wait." Piper shifted a little closer. "You were frozen? Like as in the whole time?" Her eyes widened. "Are you saying you were alive before the war?"

"That's right. I'm over two hundred years old."

"Holy shit." Piper gasped. "I've spoken to ghouls but.. holy shit. You were there when the bombs fell. You experienced it all?"

Sarah nodded. "Everything. I still remember everything clearly. I've been out of there vault for two months now. But really, it feels as if it was simply two months ago that the reports came in. We.. I was lucky. Our arrangements were only sorted out just minutes before the bombs fell. One moment I was in my home and then.." Sarah paused as tears began to well in her eyes.

"Hey, hey. We can stop if you need to?"

"It's okay." Sarah smiled. "I haven't actually talked with anyone about this, you're the first. God. You know when you asked me about this place on the stairs? This used to be called Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. My husband, Nate, was a big fan. Always tried to drag me to games. I came once but I hated it. If only he could see me now, sitting down here on what would have been the green."

"Your husband? Is he..?" Piper tried to find the words as gently as possible.

"He's dead."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. He lived and died as a hero. He was a good man. I miss him. But." Sarah paused once more. "I'm glad he's not here. War changed him. I couldn't bare to see him go through it all again."

Piper nodded. "I understand. If I may ask, what happened?"

"He was killed. At some point, we were unfrozen. I don't know when it was exactly but I remember waking up. I was in a pod, they called it a decontamination procedure, being frozen was definitely not on my to-do list. But they froze us up within seconds. I should of said something but after the bombs dropped but I was in shock, we all were. Anyway, yeah, we woke up at some point. Nate was in the pod across from me. He had Shaun with him, he's only one year old. His pod was approached and opened by two, possibly three people. I saw him as he started to adjust, but nothing I did seemed to matter. I was stuck. I saw one man pull out a gun and..." The tears fully began to flow. Piper instantly edged closer, reaching out to squeeze Sarah's hand. "He shot him and they took Shaun. They refroze the rest of us and finally I woke two months ago. Everyone else was dead, their pods failed due to some kind of technical issue. I was the only survivor."

"That's.. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now." Piper's voice lacked it's usual spark. "This has to be so difficult for you. I.. thank you for telling me that."

"I think I needed to let it out a little." Sarah wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I've been so focused on surviving this world that I haven't been able to process truly what happened."

"There's more things I want to ask you but right now, do you want to get something to eat? There's a great noodle place in the centre of the market and I think you could do with a time-out."

Sarah smiled. "I could eat. Are you sure you want to pause the interview though? Don't think I'll do a runner and you'll loose your prize scoop?"

"I think I'll be okay in that regards. Besides, I'm buying. You wouldn't dine and dash on a girl, would you?"

"Sounds like you better lead the way then, Piper."

* * *

In case you're wondering - Blue. I'll be using the nickname, just not right away.

As for Sarah - what she looks like. Do you want me to give you guys a rundown sometime of the look I have for her? Or would you prefer it if I left it up to your own imagination?


	4. Foul ball

"Are you going to be okay here?"

Sarah snapped out of her gaze at Piper's question and sighed. _Focus!_ "Yeah, sorry. I was just lost in all of this for a moment." The woman watched as Piper pulled her door shut and began to walk towards the market. "After I got out, all I couldn't help but stare at everything. All the places I remember, the places that filled my memories. I quickly realized that if I didn't stop doing that, I'd end up dead pretty quickly. Almost got taken out by a ghoul as I stared at a cash register in Lexington. Just thinking of the small talk we used to make." Sarah shook her head. "Guess I let my guard down here. But hell it makes a nice change, nothing trying to kill me."

"The night is still young!" Piper held up her hands at the look that flashed across Sarah's face. "Sorry, it's a bad joke. I'm pretty certain we'll be okay here. There aren't many attacks on the city these days, not since the wall was fixed up good and proper. You see the guys with bats?" Piper nodded towards one of the security guards fixed up in baseball attire. "They're good at what they do. Any trouble flares up and they'll handle it, fast."

"That's good to know. Three strikes and you're out?"

"Er... sure?" Piper shrugged.

"Sorry, I do bad jokes too. It's a baseball thing."

"Oh, of course, right! You should talk with Moe. He runs the Swatters store. I bet he'd love to pick your brain on baseball."

"I probably couldn't tell him much that he doesn't already know" said Sarah with a slight grimace. "That was Nate's true love. We all came second to the Sox..." Sarah attempted to shake off the subject. "So I heard the Mayor say something about you having a sister?"

Piper smiled. "Yeah, Nat. She'll be in school now. You'll meet her later I'm sure."

"Diamond City has a school?"

The reporter nodded. "It does. There's not many kids here, but it's a requirement for those that are. McDonough wasn't lying earlier - we've got a lot here. You probably saw the chapel opposite my place. There's a couple of bars, a clinic.. everything you need really."

Piper stopped in the middle of the market, just outside a noodle bar that was being run by a protectron and motioned for Sarah to take a seat. "This is Takahashi. He doesn't understand anything but yes, so don't even try to bother."

 _A Japanese robot serving noodles? Well sure._ Sarah smiled at the robot. "Kon'nichiwa."

"Nani ni shimasu ka?"

 _Errm..._

Sarah looked towards Piper, the reporter only offering up a smug 'told you so' smile in response.

The question came again. "Nani ni shimasu ka?"

"Yes?" Sarah watched as the robot began to prepare the noodles. "Is there like a choice or.."

Piper shook her head. "Nope. You get what you get. It's good though. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of things pretty quickly around here."

A comfortable silence fell between them as Sarah took in her surroundings. It was odd for her to be without Dogmeat, her normal companion staying put in Pipers office. _He deserves some rest. Guess he trusts Piper? He'd have kicked up a fuss otherwise._ Sarah noted the 'Swatters' shop that Piper had eluded too earlier. It was next to what looked like a weapons shop. She turned her head to the right, locking eyes with a woman who was staring directly at her. Piper seemed to notice straight away.

"Ah don't mind Myrna. She's just a little paranoid when it comes to newcomers. I'm sure you'll get on fine."

Sarah tore her eyes off the woman, laying them back on the reporter. "You sure about that?"

"Yep. Trust me. Ah! Here we go." Piper smiled at the bowls of noodles produced by Takahashi. "Xiè xie."

"That's Mandarin. Not Japanese."

"Mm?" Piper looked up from her bowl towards the woman with a mouth full of noodles. "It is? Huh. He never said anything."

Sarah rolled her eyes before smiling at the robot. "Domo arigato."

"Nani ni shimasu ka?"

"Hope you're hungry, he's going to make you more now." Piper grinned as she tucked into more of her noodles.

 _Son of a bi..._

* * *

 _That wasn't half bad actually._

As Sarah finished off the last of her (second helping) of noodles, she watched as Piper paid before quickly whisking the vault dweller away before she accidentally ordered even more noodles.

"Next time they're on me."

"You're damn right they are." Piper scoffed. "It's like you haven't eaten in two hundred years or so." She paused. "Too soon?"

Despite the jokey nature of the statement, there was a slight hint of alarm written in the reporters eyes. Sarah understood it. She was growing fond of Piper in a short amount of time: her quick witted nature meshed well with hers and it'd been weeks since she laughed, or even smiled, with another person.

"Hey if you want me to finish that interview I might need all the noodles."

"Bribery!" Piper moved her hands to her mouth, her face instantly in shock. But the worry was gone, the reporter clearly thankful that she hadn't offended her new friend. "And I thought our elders were supposed to be the ones to look up to."

"Don't push it, kid." Sarah laughed, Piper soon joining in. _That's a nice sound._

Piper clasped her hands together. "Right. We've wined and dined. Do you want to finish the interview or get a tour of the city? You know, if you want to and all. You're free to go and um, do things yourself of course."

 _She actually sounds nervous?_ "Lets finish the interview first. Unless you want me gone after so you can do some work?"

"What? No! I mean, yes I'll have to do some work sometime but I won't kick you out or.. okay, interview first. Tour later. Deal?"

Sarah nodded. "Deal."

"Besides I was going to offer to.." Piper cut herself off.

"Offer what?"

"Forget it, silly idea." Piper shrugged. "Well maybe, no, I'll see later. Okay?"

 _Er.. okay. Note - noodles make Piper mad._

"Okay. So your office?"

"Mm?" Piper mused. "Oh, yes, come on. Time-a-wastin. Ah crap. I just remembered. The Mayor's doing a speech like, er, now. I've got to see what he has to say. It'll all be bullshit but.."

"That's your job" finished Sarah. "Lets go then. I'll keep you from storming the stage."

"You're no fun, blue."

 _Blue?_

Sarah didn't have a chance to ask before Piper was walking towards the large green wall. "He likes to do these things in the open. His ego demands it." Sarah tried to take note of the buildings she was passing while trying to keep up with the reporter. "Damn, he's already started."

"Ah Miss Wright, so good of you to join us. After all, you are the one who caused all this nonsense to begin with." Mayor McDonough was on a raised platform in front of the wall, many of the residents now turning from in front of the stage to look at Piper and in turn, Sarah. "I'll start again for your benefit."

"Asshole" muttered Piper under her breath as the Mayor began to speak to the congregated masses once more.

Sarah listened to the man as he started his speech. _Even after 200 years, politicians still spew the same BS. I shouldn't have eaten before this._ She glanced around the crowd again, taking in the different faces. Once more she spotted Myrna glaring at her before the woman turned her attention back to the Mayor. _What's her problem?_ She was momentary distracted as Piper began tapping her foot impatiently next to her before returning her attention to the crowd.

And then Sarah saw him.

 _It can't be.._

The man who killed her husband and stole her baby was staring directly at her from across the courtyard.

 _It's him. I.. I.._

Her legs were moving before she even knew what was happening. She could hear the shouts from the crowd as she barged through the number of residents but she ignored them as she attempted to reach the man who had destroyed everything she had left. Piper's desperate voice mixed with the Mayor's as she barged past another resident, locking eyes directly once more with Nate's killer.

The man simply smiled at her and pointed to her right.

She felt the ground a second later as she was tackled, loosing sight of him as Diamond City security took her down. She punched and kicked, attempting to force her way out. "You don't understand! I need to.."

The sedative kicked in almost instantly as her shouts began to die. "You don't.." Sarah's voice was only just above a whisper now. She could faintly hear Piper attempting to reason with someone as darkness began to swell around her. As she looked up at the sky, the shocked faces of Diamond City's residents looked down at her as they congregated to show their disgust before more security guards escorted them back.

 _Please.. Please.. Piper...It's..._

As the man appeared above her, his smile was now gone. Their eyes met once more as Sarah tried to fight her way back up but was left utterly motionless on the ground. Shaking his head almost in disappointment, he disappeared from her vision as she finally succumbed to darkness.


	5. Jailbird

The noise was horrible. _Just five more minutes, jeez. What is Codsworth doing now? Damn robot. I knew I should have said no when Nate brought up the idea. But it'll give us more me time he said. Eugh! Give me a break. That worked out so well didn't it you stupid little..._

"Hey! Wake up."

Sarah's eyes began to open tentatively. Unfortunately for her, the sound of wood hitting steal continued. "Come on now, I haven't got all day. I'm a busy man." Sarah began to sit up slowly, the cold floor allowing her to recognize her surroundings quickly. _What? Where am I?_ _This isn't.._ The guard in front of her came into focus, his bat now dropped down by the side of his arm. Thankfully for Sarah, he had stopped banging on the bars. _I'm in a cell. Diamond City. I.. him. It was him. He was standing there like nothing had happened. I need to find him!_

Her voice came out quickly. "You need to let me out of here right now!"

The guard sneered. "I don't need to do a damn thing you say. You need to calm your ass down."

 _Damn it you son of a.. shit._ Sarah knew he was right. She had worked enough cases back in her old world to know she was only making more trouble for herself by being so demanding. She nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm calm." _I want to rip that motherfucker to pieces._ The woman's voice came out surprisingly relaxed to her credit.

"Mmhm." The guard eyeballed her warily. "You've got a visitor. You don't deserve shit for what you were trying to do out there. Not really sure how she got him to say yes, thought he'd have bounced her ass out of here. Guess she's..." The man grinned and licked his lips slightly. "Persuasive."

Sarah offered up no reaction, the man seemingly disappointed that his prodding went through her without any visible results. He turned, grunting as he did so and walked away into the shadows. She could hear the sound of a door opening as Piper quickly appeared after, trotting up to the cage with concern etched onto her features.

"Are you okay?" The reporter sounded worried, matching her expression. She didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "What on earth was that out there? You could have got yourself killed! I don't know what it's been like out there for you, but there's a hard line here when it comes to any kind of violence."

Sarah glanced behind Piper, the man watching their conversation intently. "Do you remember what I told you in your office." Piper nodded silently, aware of the eyes directly staring at the back of her head. "You remember the last thing I said, before we stopped for noodles?" Again a silent nod was her only response. "I saw him."

It took a few seconds before the dots connected, Piper leaning into the cage quickly. "You saw him? The.. man who.. you know?" Her voice was alarmed, but she attempted to keep it to a whisper. "You're sure?"

"Positive." Sarah nodded. "It was him. I'd never forget his face.."

"Holy shit, blue." Piper rubbed her forehead in disbelief. "That's.. okay, yeah now I get why you tore through that crowd. I thought... god it's so stupid now. Everyone said you were trying to take out the Mayor. Which is crazy. You weren't even going in his direction!" Piper rolled her eyes. "Myrna thought you were trying to attack her. Says you were staring at her all night." She held up a hand. "I know, I know. Don't worry, nobody pays attention."

"I think I'd rather have them think that then think I was trying to kill the Mayor, Piper."

Piper shrugged. "Both are frowned upon, I'll be honest. But holy shit. I can't believe he was here." Piper reached through the bars to squeeze Sarah's hand. She was a little surprised at first, but didn't pull away from the touch.

Sarah smiled weakly. "Yeah. And then I screwed everything up." She glanced briefly at the guard. "So how do I get out of here? I need to find him."

"Launching a prison break probably isn't best for either of us right now."

Sarah grimaced. _My actions have consequences here, I didn't truly realize that until now. I can't destroy Piper's life here. She has a sister, a home, a career._ "Sorry about that. I know that I'm not helping you here."

"I've faced worse battles. As for getting out of here, that might be tricky. You see as you'll probably guess in Diamond City, Mayor McDonough handles pretty much everything including overseeing the prisoners and their crimes. We don't get many in general, so he doesn't have to worry much there. But right now you're still here which tells me he's planning something, he could have easily had you exiled.. or executed." Piper muttered under her breath. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Lucky me I guess?"

"Mmhm." Piper tapped her foot on the ground. "I think I know a guy who can help. I was going to take you to see him anyway. Shockingly enough, I don't really have much sway with the Mayor right now. Couldn't believe he said yes to me being here actually. So maybe my guy can offer up something a little different."

"If you think he can help.. who is he?"

"His name is Nick Valentine, he's a private investigator in town. Very well respected around these parts, damn good at his job too. Haven't seen him around recently though, he might be on a case. Still I'll drop by his office now and see what I can do to help."

"Thank you Piper." Sarah smiled. "But I don't want you getting into any more trouble on my behalf. You've already done so much and..."

Piper held up her hand. "Stop, okay? I'm with you on this. For too long we've lived under a dark cloud. You.. I think you're that light that we've needed."

Sarah didn't know what to say. "I.. thank you. I really appreciate this, Piper."

"You better. I've still got a story to finish after all. Plus I'm seemingly dog sitting while you're in the slammer. Nat is thrilled with that by the way."

"Protecting your investment?" Sarah raised her eyebrows. _I hope Dogmeat is okay. Maybe he'll try and break me out of here himself. Honestly? I think he could take them all._

"Hey when your back-up story is a puff piece with a bar owner in town, damn right I'll be sticking through on this. Besides, it's the right thing to do." Piper stepped back from the bars. "I'll be back as soon as possible, okay?"

Sarah nodded. "Thanks. Be careful."

Piper grinned. "No promises."

As Sarah sat back down against the wall, she leaned her head forward into her knees and sighed. _Guess I should be thankful I'm still alive right now. Wonder what McDonough is planning for me? Judge, jury, but probably not the executioner. Wouldn't want to mess up his fancy threads after all. God what a mess._ Her mind drifted back to the man. _You knew exactly what you were doing. You were baiting me and I jumped hook, line and sinker. But why? Why now? And where the hell is Shaun?_ Sarah could feel her blood rising in her once more. _You son of a bitch. I'll make you pay for what you did. I swear._

Sarah raised her head and stared at the bars. _I definitely prefer being on the other side of these._ "Hey!" Sarah shouted out. "Where's my one phone call?" She shrugged at the lack of response. _Guess things are done a little different these days. Just my luck._


	6. The Verdict

They came for her the next morning.

"Wake up. You've got an appointment to keep." Sarah stirred on the floor. Slowly but surely she was getting used to the hard ground whenever she attempted to catch up on sleep. It had been tricky at first to adapt to. Add in the multiple dangers that she had encountered on her travels and it never seemed to get less stressful.

"Can it wait? I'm pretty solid right now." _Feels like these first time I've slept properly in weeks. Funny what happens when you don't expect giant rats to pop out of the ground to rip your face off.. Don't know what that says about me now if I don't consider being under armed guard in a jail cell dangerous._

"Now, inmate. We'll drag you if needs be. In fact, keep it up. It'll be a pleasure to see your face in the dirt."

Sarah rolled her eyes as she sat up. "You certainly have a charm about you. I'm going to miss these talks. I never caught your name by the way."

"Fuck. You. Capital f, capital y."

"Catchy. I like it." Sarah pulled herself up by the bars and shook herself off. The guard grunted as he reached the cell door, unlocking it with a set of keys.

"Turn around, arms behind your back. Give me an excuse, I dare you."

Sarah complied as the guard roughly slapped handcuffs onto her. "You won't get any trouble from me, officer."

The guard grunted again as he pulled her forward, placing a hand on her shoulder and shoving her towards the exit. "Walk. You try to run and you won't get far. You try anything and it'll be the last thing you do."

As the sunlight hit her, Sarah winced, unable to block out the rays. A push in her back got her moving again out of the doorway. The guard placed a heavy hand on her shoulder as he pushed her forward. "You're going to see the Mayor if you hadn't guessed by now." The guard guided Sarah through the streets of Diamond City. Residents they passed stopped and starred, whispering in hushed tones about the guard and his prisoner. "You're the talk of this place. What with you trying to assassinate the Mayor. Half the locals think you're a synth."

"And what do you think?"

"I think we should put a bullet in you either way. But no, that wouldn't be right he says." The man sounded unhappy. _Guess I might not be facing a firing squad then._

They passed Piper's office, Sarah turning her head to look but there were no signs of the intrepid reporter. _Hopefully she's having some luck with her lead._ She looked towards the market, spotting Myrna with a grin on her face as she was led up a ramp leading to a lift. The guard closed the gate as they stepped onto the platform, the lift soon rising.

 _Probably the wrong time to be admiring the view. But still it's impressive none the less._

As they reached their destination, Sarah didn't wait for the guard to shove her, stepping off the lift into what looked like a reception area. The blonde woman behind the desk took one look at her before looking back down at the papers in front of her. "He's ready for her, Dick."

 _Dick? Oh man that's just perfect._ Sarah stifled a laugh as Dick the guard grunted, pushing her towards an open set of doors. Sarah quickly caught sight of the man who summoned her. Mayor McDonough was stood with his back to them as they entered the office. taking in the full view of Diamond City. He turned with a surprising smile on his face.

"Ah welcome, welcome." His smile quickly turned to a frown. "Dick. What is this? Please remove those wretched handcuffs from our guest"

"Sir I.."

"Now, Dick." The Mayor's voice took a harsh tone. The handcuffs were soon off as Sarah mindlessly rubbed her now free wrists. "Good, that's better. You're excused."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. Our guest here means me no harm. Leave."

Dick gave one final grunt. "Yes sir." He turned and walked out the office. Sarah followed him with her eyes until the Mayor cleared his throat.

"You'll have to excuse Dick. He's quite a character. Please take a seat." The Mayor motioned to a couch across the room. "You have nothing to fear here, please."

Sarah tentatively walked to the couch, trying to catch a sight of any other guards. There were none present however. She took a seat as the Mayor walked to the office doors, closing them with a thud. "Privacy at last." The man smiled as he walked to the couch, taking a seat on a single chair next to it. He placed his hands into his lap as he leaned forward. "Firstly I'd like to apologize for what you've been through the last few days. I know what you're thinking - I am the man who put you behind bars to begin with. You're right of course. But I believe this has all been a big misunderstanding, don't you think?"

 _This is too weird. Did Piper tell him about the man?_

"I wasn't trying to.."

The Mayor interrupted her. "Assassinate me? Heavens I know! You're clearly a smart woman. It's plain to see you weren't trying to get anywhere near me. And besides, why would you even do so? I offer nothing but help and support to those who need assistance. I've won the peacekeeper award five years running."

 _Except you offered no help or support. And I wonder who's idea it was for that award._

Sarah faked a smile. "I'm so thankful that you've seen things clearly, Mr. Mayor."

"But of course my dear. However." The mans smile faded. "There have been allegations made by a resident here in Diamond City. For their safety, we kept you in lock down while we investigated thoroughly. Now I'm sorry to say, there is significant evidence of a threat against them. This is not something that we can tolerate in Diamond City. Diamond City is place of peace, a place where residents can live without fear of danger that looms outside these walls. In a short period of time you have aligned yourself with a woman that has only brought fear to our city. You have flown off the handle in public, surrounded by our fine residents. It is clear that you are in fact not Diamond City material. Hereby as the reigning Mayor, I hereby ban you from residing inside our walls. You will be case out of Diamond City effective immediately. You can not return. If you return, action will be taken. Action that many wanted now." The Mayor leaned back in his chair, clearly relaxed. "But I am a fair man. Do you understand?"

"Yes I do." _It was all Sarah could say. She didn't understand. What threat? What evidence? Who? Myrna? But I haven't.. And why is he just letting me leave? I can't leave. I have to find him. There has to be a way._

"I'm glad you do. I thought you would, hence the need for no security. I'm sorry it worked out this way and I'm sorry we couldn't help you further. But I do wish you luck in the times ahead." The Mayor stood. "Your dog has been retrieved and is waiting for you at the main gates. You will take the elevator to the right outside of my office. If you wish take one last look at the city now."

Sarah stood off the couch and walked to the window. _Goddamn it. You're here, somewhere. But they'll shoot me on sight if I try to get back in there. Why is this happening?_

"Thank you Mayor McDonough. If I may.. could you tell Piper thanks? I know you and her don't see eye to eye, but I appreciate the help that she was attempting to offer me."

The Mayor nodded. "I'll see to it that Miss Wright is notified of your gratitude."

Sarah once again forced through a smile. "Thank you." _I'll find out what's going on here. I'll find out a way back. I'll find you._

The ride in the elevator was short, the doors opening to reveal the open gate of Diamond City. A guard was stood with a lead attached to a collar on Dogmeat's neck who was clearly unhappy with the situation until he saw Sarah approaching him. He quickly darted away, the guard loosing his grip on the lead with a yelp. Sarah knelt down to greet her companion, instantly taking off the collar.

"I'm sorry about that boy. Did you miss me?"

Dogmeat barked happily but growled as the guard approached tentatively to pick the lead off the ground. "Sorry, orders" muttered the guard under his breath. Another guard approached her as she stood. "Here's all your belongings." He passed along the bag and weapons. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. I overheard your initial conversation here. I do hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thanks." She strapped hold of her weapons once more. "I'll get out of your hair."

"Stay safe out there."

Sarah looked down at Dogmeat. "Ready to go?"

Another happy bark from the dog greeted her. "I thought so." As she walked under the gate, Dogmeat trotted happily beside her once more. The sound of the gate beginning to lower behind her didn't distract her. _Well as trips go, that wasn't the best. Still I.._

It was the whistle that did distract her. She paused, turning back around. The gate had finished lowering, but now a familiar lone woman stood in front of the locked down city. Piper smiled broadly. "You said you wouldn't dine and dash on me."

"Isn't exactly my choice."

Piper approached her. "This isn't your choice either: I'm coming with you." She pointed down towards Dogmeat. "We talked. It's cool with him."

That surprised Sarah. "Wait, wait..what? But what about..."

"There's no time to wait, blue. Now come on!"

Sarah raised both eyebrows, her surprise not ending. "Come on where? All my leads just died behind a locked stadium."

"And what type of reporter would I be without a lead of my own, hm? Now come on. It's a long walk. I'll fill you in on the way." Piper began to walk off, with Dogmeat surprisingly following in her wake.

 _Well isn't that something?_

It didn't take long for Sarah to follow too. "Piper! Wait!"

* * *

As we approach Christmas, I'd like to wish all my readers (who celebrate it of course) a very **Happy Holiday Season**! And to those that don't, have a great rest of the year!


	7. We are the road crew

"Piper! Wait!"

The reporter turned her head as she walked, quickly motioning for Sarah to catch up. "Keep up!" She looked down at Dogmeat as she walked. "Was she always this slow?"

Sarah rolled her eyes as she caught up with the two, the dog this time not offering any kind of response. "It'd be nice to know where you're dragging me to and all."

"Hey I'm not dragging you. You're exercising your free will to follow me right now. You can stay outside Diamond City if you want?"

Sarah scoffed. "Like you'd let me. You haven't finished that interview yet. Doubt I'd get out of your sight for a second before you finish that scoop."

"See! You're catching on. Yeah it's on my to do list. Just some matters are more pressing, that's all. We'll get back to that later. After we clear your name and get you back into Diamond City of course, then we can finish the story."

"And how on earth do you plan on doing that? No offense but if you're my defence committee I picture a whole lot of gunfire coming my way."

Piper tutted. "Just because the Mayor and I don't see eye to eye on one.. or one hundred things doesn't mean that I couldn't win. I mean, you'd get shot and all, but I could probably buy you a minute or two first if you want some more noodles."

"Wonderful news." Sarah shook her head. _But I could probably go for some more of those noodles..._

"No what we're going to need is something a little better. And that's the plan now. We're heading to Goodneighbour." Piper let the destination sink in for a second. "You been there before?"

"I've heard of it but I can't say I've visited. Is it like Diamond City?"

The reporter grimaced slightly. "Not really, like, at all. But it's a good place to find, lets say, interesting characters. And while the guy we're looking for probably isn't there, there will be someone who knows where he is I'm sure."

"Is this that private investigator you were talking about seeing?" Sarah thought back to their discussion while she was under lock and key in Diamond City jail. "Valentine?"

Piper nodded. "That's the one. I dropped by his office and talked to Ellie, his assistant. She says he went out on a case and hasn't been heard from in about a week. It happens from time to time. But she said this time.. no, this time it felt different, wrong in fact. She's been worried sick. So I said I'd look into it."

"That's a lot just for one guy. Is he that big a deal?"

"You'll see when you meet him." Piper licked her lips. "Nick has helped a lot of people and with something like this, yeah, I'd want him looking into it. Especially if the.." Piper shook her head. "We've gotta find him first. So Goodneighbour is our destination. Be good to get there before nightfall. Isn't the safest neighbourhood so don't let the name trick you into a false sense of security. But anyway. What happened with the Mayor? You're still alive. That's a pleasant surprise."

Sarah raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Thanks? Well he got me into his office and.. I don't know, it was kind of fucked up. He dismissed all his guards so it was just the two of us. Like he didn't want them to hear what was going on or something. Then he started going on about it all being a big misunderstanding, how he knew that I wasn't trying to attack him. Mentioned something about a peacekeeper award?"

"Eugh." Piper screwed up her face in disgust. "He wins it every year. He's also the only nominee by the way, I know that must be a surprise. And he gives a three hour speech every time. Mandatory attendance."

"Three hours? Really?"

"Feels like it." Piper shook her head. "What else did he say?"

"Supposedly there were allegations made by a resident, hence why I was kept locked up while they investigated. Something about me being a menace to society. And then he banished me from the city. Said if I returned action will be taken."

"Ties into that hail of gunfire thing then." Piper checked her pistol as she walked. "Did you mention anything about you know, the man?"

"No." Sarah shook her head firmly. "Didn't even give me a chance. I don't think he would have took it seriously if I did. He'd probably think I'm trying to save face."

"Most likely. Can you describe him? Maybe I know of him."

 _I can't ever forget his face._ Sarah detailed everything she could about the man who had taken Shaun, from the way he looked to the tone of his voice, even how he walked.

"He doesn't sound like anyone I've met before and I'll be honest, I know most of Diamond City." Piper paused before talking tentatively. "Are you sure you, well, you really saw him? I'm no doctor but the psychological effects must be.."

Sarah cut her off. "I saw him. He was there. I don't know how or why, or where he came from.. but he was there. I know it."

The reporter held up her hands apologetically. "Woah, sorry, I believe you. Just wanted to make sure and all."

Sarah smiled weakly. "I know how it must sound. I would probably have doubts too if I was in your shoes."

"Considering you were frozen for two hundred years and only recently came back into the world, I really shouldn't have any doubts about anything to do with you."

"Heh." Sarah actually laughed. "Put it that way and yeah, it's all a little fucked up if you stop to analyse everything. Am I the first by the way?"

"The first?"

"You know, to be banished from Diamond City."

"Oh no." Piper shook her head dramatically. "There was this whole clear out all the ghouls thing a while back. They've got you beat there. That was a whole different kind of situation."

"So I'm in good company then?"

Piper laughed. "Yeah you.." She paused as she caught sight of movement ahead. The reporter ducked down, Sarah soon following suite. "We've got something up front. You see?"

Sarah nodded. "I've got 'em"

Three super mutants were making their way through a old building, the windows long blown out. Sarah flicked her eyes over to Piper, the reporter keenly watching the unaware mutants.

 _Shit. What am I doing? I've dragged her into this and I don't even know if she can handle what's out here. She's armed but can she actually use any of it properly? She's got a sister back home and.._

"I think they're gone." Piper snapped Sarah out of her thoughts as she stood back up. "Damn abominations. You had any trouble with them?"

Sarah nodded as she stood. "Once or twice. Tough, but not too smart."

"Thankfully." Piper began to walk again but Sarah reached out to grab her arm.

"Piper. I appreciate you doing all this, really I do. But I don't want to put you in harms way. I've already got you into enough trouble as it is and you've got your sister and.."

Piper held up her hand, a true smile forming on her features. It was the most beautiful thing Sarah had seen in weeks.

"Blue. I get it. You're too nice to say it, but you're thinking this ol' reporter gal won't be able to cut it in a fight." The smile disappeared as a more focused expression formed.. "But this isn't my first time on the road. I know the dangers. And if push comes to shove, I know I have what it takes to survive. Yeah it's difficult to leave Nat every time. I'm sure she lays awake thinking that maybe this will be the time I don't make it back." Piper sighed. "That's a heavy weight to handle. But I do so because it's the right thing to do. There are people out here that needs my help. When I write.. it can help people. I gather contacts, a network and because of that we all benefit. Some people just need a little hope to help them get through the day. If I can give that to them, I will. No matter what's out here." Piper grinned. "Just don't give me a rocket launcher. It'll all go to hell."

The joke attempted to lighten the mood but Sarah couldn't help but focus on how much she respected Piper's determination to try and make things better, even just for a few. "That's.. really noble." _Noble? That's the best you could come up with? Eugh._

"I know right? I should be getting that damn peacekeeper award, not the Mayor!" Piper grinned as she nudged her companion. "Just know I've got your back, okay?"

"Thank you. I do appreciate everything you've done for me."

"That's what friends are for. Or you know, historic relics I like drilling for information."

Sarah raised both eyebrows. "So I'm a relic now?"

"You're certainly precious." Piper's eyes shot open widely as she stumbled on her words. "Er, oh, I mean. Like as in a, well you know!" The reporter's mind raced. "Artifact!" Piper shot around as her face turned a certain shade of red as she blurted out the word. "Come on! We've got to get going."

Piper started to walk again with Dogmeat trotting happily behind her. Despite her confusion at Pipers reaction, Sarah followed her two companions with the woman's thoughts soon following a similar pattern to that of Pipers.

 _You're precious too, Piper._

* * *

 **Just a quick note - I'm not sure if I've said it on this story, but I'm very much a conversation/story writer rather than an action writer. And because of that, I'm not going to be bogged down with lots of 'pew pew!' fighting with enemies around every corner like in the game sometimes. I'd rather focus on the characters (and I suck at action!)**

 **Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a great few weeks. Glad to be back. Thanks for all the kindness, comments and follows. I do appreciate it a lot.**

 **Next up our deadly duo heads into Goodneighbour to pin down a location for the illusive Mr. Valentine!**


	8. Dirt

Piper was quiet for the most part as the two women continued on their journey to Goodneighbor with Dogmeat. Thankfully for the trio, they hadn't ran into any other dangers or difficulties during the relatively short trip to Goodneighbor.

 _Any time I don't have to fire a gun is good with me._ Sarah glanced at Piper who was slightly ahead. _It'd be silly to say she's being quiet now, right? I mean I hardly know her after all._

"Hey Piper."

The reporter glanced back. "Yeah?"

"Are you doing okay?"

It took a few seconds for Piper to respond as she gathered her thoughts. "I just keep thinking of the man. How he was right there and I had no idea."

Sarah shook her head softly, stepping up to join Piper's side. "You can't think like that. You had no idea. We know he's out there, somewhere. Maybe he's still in Diamond City. So lets focus on getting me back in there, right? That's where Valentine comes in after all."

"Yeah I suppose you're right." Piper smiled. "Sorry. I just zone in on something sometimes and I don't let go easily. Sometimes it's a good habit, sometimes it's bad." She pointed up ahead to a hand painted sign pointing to Goodneighbor. "We're here. Just remember this place is nothing like Diamond City. You watch my back and I'll watch yours. Power and violence runs through this place."

"Got it. I'll try and stay out of jail this time." Sarah rubbed her wrists as she thought back to the cuffs in Diamond City.

"Don't worry, they'll just shoot you. There's no jail here."

Sarah couldn't help but chuckle. "Ah, well, that's good to know." She watched as Piper reached a single door built into a fence. _Not as much security as at Fenway. I feel like I should know this place._ She stepped through following Piper. Directly in front of her was what looked like a weapons store, 'Kill or Be Killed'.

"I'm already seeing what you meant." She took in her surroundings, looking to the build on her left. "Oh shit."

Piper turned to her quickly. "What is it?"

"Oh, sorry, nothing to be alarmed at." Sarah felt heat rising on her cheeks. "I just recognize the building, that's all."

"I forget that this must all be so weird for you to see. Some places completely destroyed, some still standing over two hundred years later."

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. I mean Diamond City was the big one. But then you've got places like this. They've seen some things, but here they are, still kicking."

"Just like you."

"Are you saying I'm old again?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much." Her grin quickly turned sour as a man approached them. "Ah jeez."

"Pipeeeeeeer." The man was dressed in ripped leather garments, his brown hair unruly and gaps clearly visible in his teeth. A machete hung down from his belt as he stopped in front of the two women with a sleazy grin on his face. Dogmeat began to growl at the man, which earned him a glare. "This your mutt?"

"What do you want, Ryke?" Piper rolled her eyes, ignoring his question.

"The same thing I always want sweetheart. When are you going to write that story about me in that little paper of yours?"

"Same answer every time. Never in a million years."

Ryke laughed. It was an ugly sound. "You keep saying that but no, no. I'd make a good piece, a good honest man to sit down with. I'd treat you right, Piper. I'd give you exactly what you need."

"What I need from you is to leave."

"Oh why do you have to be like that?" The man looked at Sarah. "Is it because of your little friend here?" He licked his lips. "She doesn't have to leave or nothing. I'm sure there's room in the story for all three of us."

Sarah could feel her skin crawl as Ryke gazed over her. _Don't do anything you'll regret. You're supposed to be staying out of trouble._

Piper stepped forward with determination. "Get it through that thick skull of yours. Never. Going. To. Happen." She emphasized the four important words.

"You make it sound like I'm making a formal request." The man's voice was low as his eyes stared into the reporters soul. "I could take you anytime, anyplace. I could have you right here and nobody would bat an eyelid. Remember who I am, bitch. Remember who you're fucking with." He grinned once more. "I'll see you around, both of you."

 _Screw this._

"You're a big man, aren't you?"

Ryke scoffed. "You damn right I am."

Piper whispered quietly. "He's not worth it, Blue. Just leave it alone, please."

"But.."

"It's fine, really. He's a nobody."

"Bitch!" Ryke yelled as he pulled free his machete. "I'm not deaf, I can hear you there whispering." He turned his attention to Sarah as he twirled the blade. "You want a piece of me, hm? You want to feel my blade?"

"Oh enough of that now." A voice from behind Ryke made the man stop in his tracks. "We have the finest reporter around and her guest present and you're making threats? Tut tut, Mr. Ryke." A lone ghoul in a long red trench coat walked calmly towards the group. "If I were you, I would apologize."

"This has nothing to do with you, Mayor."

 _Mayor? They have a ghoul Mayor? Piper wasn't kidding about this not being Diamond City._

"That's where you're mistaken. This is Goodneighbor. Everything matters to me. Especially when it comes to a no good scumbag such as yourself, Ryke."

Ryke grinned. "Then why am I still here, huh? Ain't got the balls to kick me out, old man?"

"I've always been a fair Mayor I feel. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, maybe even a chance or two more then what they should really get. You? I think I've reached the end of my patience. Now isn't the time to push me."

The grin never left Ryke's face as he leant in closely to the Mayor, the ghoul not shifting an inch. "Okay, okay. I get it. I'll go." He stepped back, winking at Piper which made the reporter shudder. "Be seeing you, Piper. Oh yeah. I'm sorrrrrrrrrrrrry."

Ryke slithered away laughing to himself as all sets of eyes followed him around the corner.

The Mayor motioned over another man, whispering quietly to him before he walked away. "It's good to have you back, Piper. Always a pleasure to have a bit of class around here."

"You need all you can get to negate the scum like him, Hancock."

The ghoul nodded. "I know, I know. I tell you what. Give me the word and I'll make sure you never see that man again."

Piper paused as thoughts raced through her mind. Finally she shook her head. "No. It's fine."

"Incorruptible! I do respect that." The ghoul turned his attention to Sarah. "I admire you stepping up for Piper here. I haven't seen you around these parts before."

"First time" said Sarah.

"Then I hope this doesn't ruin your impressions of our little town here. Now I must get going as something requires my attention but feel free to stop by any time you like. Welcome to Goodneighbor. You can call me Hancock by the way." The Mayor tipped his hat before turning and walking away with a purpose.

Sarah turned towards her companion. _I want to rip Ryke's face off and bury his machete straight through his skull._ "You okay?"

"Second time you've asked me that now." Piper put on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm fine. Come on now, I don't know about you but I could use some rest. There's a hotel near-by. We'll see what we can find out in the morning, yeah?" The reporters voice was clearly tired. It had been a busy couple of days for both of them. _And I gotta admit. It'd be good to sleep on a bed of some kind again. Piper clearly doesn't want to talk about it now at least._

"Sounds good to me."

As the two women made their way towards the hotel, they didn't see Ryke as he watched their movements from the shadow. Unfortunately for the man, Ryke too didn't see the three men with guns approach from one of the warehouses. He did however feel the butt of the rifle that cracked him directly in the back of the head, the man quickly falling into a unconscious heap on the floor.

"Get him inside and let Hancock know we've got him secured." The lead guard grunted to the others.

"Yes boss."


	9. Scary Monsters (& Super Creeps)

_I wonder what this place looked like before. Before all of this. Probably too expensive. And now.. bottlecaps._

Sarah blinked as she looked up at the ceiling. The bottle caps had been handed over at the front desk and now they had their very own room at the once glamorous Hotel Rexford in Goodneighbor. The hotel was run down, seemingly empty from the look of surprise the worker on the front desk had when they had stepped through the door before she recognized the reporter. Piper had drifted to sleep almost immediately once they had climbed the stairs to their room, while Sarah lay wide awake on her side of the bed.

The sound of gunfire somewhere in the distance made Sarah twitch, whereas Piper's sleeping form did not react at all. Sarah turned her head to look at the woman.

 _I wonder how you get to that point. Where you can just sleep through these things. I guess it's the only thing she's ever known. This world, this lifestyle._

Sarah sighed as she returned to staring at the cracks in the ceiling. _That man, Ryke. Why did I want to kill him? He's clearly a scumbag. But that's no excuse for murder. I've killed.. but it was when I needed to survive. He talked a big game but I wanted to put him down where he stood. Where is the line?_

Tap... tap... tap...

Sarah bolted upright and shot her head towards the door. Dogmeat too rose to his feet, a small growl beginning to escape his mouth as Piper began to stir. "What is.."

"There's someone at the door." Sarah whispered as she grabbed her pistol. "You good?"

Piper groggily reached out for her weapon. "Yeah."

Standing to her feet, Sarah edged towards the door. "Who's out there?" Her voice was firm.

The response came immediately. "It's Hancock. I do apologize for disturbing you at this time. Can I talk to you?"

Sarah glanced round at Piper, the reporter letting out what seemed to be a sigh of relief as she lowered her pistol. "It's fine. If he wanted to cause us trouble, he wouldn't have knocked."

"If you say so." Sarah wasn't so sure as she edged towards the door, her pistol still in hand. Reaching out, she pulled the door towards her. Hancock stood alone, his arms raised slightly.

"Don't shoot, sister." Hancock grinned. "I'm not here for a shoot out. Ol' Clair would never forgive me if I dirtied her fine establishment. Besides, I mean you no harm." Sarah began to slowly lower her pistol. Hancock took that as a sight to lower his hands. "Thanks for not blowing my head off."

Piper stood from the bed as she approached the door. "What can we do for you?" The reporter stifled a yawn as she stopped by Sarah's side.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your friend. You know how it is. A quick welcome talk back at the house. Don't worry your pretty head. I'll have her back before you know it."

 _Me? He wants.. me?_

"Now?" Piper's tired voice replied. "You want to do this now? Couldn't it wait until the morning?"

"Hey you know how things can be around here. Sometimes it's not worth holding things back when time is free."

 _Piper seems to trust him. So I guess.. I guess it'll be okay. And if he's the Mayor around here, I don't want to put things into a negative situation by refusing. He may know things that could help._

"It's okay, I wasn't sleeping anyway." Sarah looked at Piper and Dogmeat. "You two rest. I'll be back soon, right?"

The question was aimed at Hancock. "Absolutely. Thirty minute tops. Bring any weapons you think you need to be safe. But I promise, no harm will come your way. I'll meet you downstairs." Hancock nodded towards Piper as he walked away from the door, heading back downstairs.

"So any idea about this?"

Piper shrugged. "Hancock likes to maintain control of Goodneighbor, especially when it comes to newcomers. He's probably just trying to feel you out. Even without knowing your background, you're definitely not what you normally see around here."

"Because I'm precious, right?" Sarah grinned as Piper closed her eyes and groaned.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Sarah shook her head. "Nope. Well I better not keep the man waiting." She paused as Piper grabbed her arm.

"Just be careful, okay? Keep your eyes sharp." Their eyes locked. "Remember where you are."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Get some rest, okay?" Sarah squeezed Pipers arm gently which brought a small smile to her face. "Dogmeat? You're in charge!" Sarah grinned as she stepped through the door to head down the corridor.

Piper watched the woman as she turned at the end of the corridor, disappearing down the stairs. Pushing the door shut, Piper sighed as Dogmeat whimpered. "I know boy. I feel the same way."

* * *

"First things first, welcome to Goodneighbor. I know I said it before, but I wanted you to hear it from me without any of those nasty distractions that we had earlier. I'm sorry, this is terribly rude of me, but I don't know your name."

Hancock and Sarah had just left the hotel and were now walking slowly up the street. "My name is Sarah."

"Sarah? That's a nice name. I don't think I've met one before. Well Sarah. It's certainly a pleasure."

"Likewise."

Hancock laughed. "I appreciate you saying that, even if there's no real truth behind it. No I believe you must be wondering why exactly I'm asking you to join me on this night time stroll."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"Then let me not leave you in the dark any longer. As you might recall, I am the Mayor of this fine city, it is something that I'm very proud to be. Because of that, it's important I know exactly who resides inside our walls. Now I admit, we in Goodneighbor aren't a city full of saints. Hence why your arrival tickled my fancy. You're a new face. A fresh face. And there's something about you that's... clean." Hancock motioned her to turn a corner with him. "You stood up for your friend. You don't see that often around here. It's all me, me, me. Even when there's a group of people, it's never a group, it's simply a collective of individuals. If I can be so bold, where did you come from?"

Sarah considered her answer. "I've been around here for quite a long time."

The ghoul chuckled to himself. "A vague answer but not one I blame you for. The accessory on your wrist points to a potential answer to my question, but I'm okay with your answer anyway. I too appreciate a bit of mystery. If I were in your shoes, I might just be the same."

Hancock led Sarah towards a door. "This is your place?"

"Here?" Hancock shook his head. "Oh no. But there's something I need you to see while we're here." The ghoul paused. "I know how that sounded. Again please, you have my word. No harm will come your way. I'm quite the fan of your friend. She's made quite a few trips here over time gone by." Hancock opened the door. "Please, after you."

Sarah looked inside. She couldn't see much apart from darkness. Finally she stepped inside, the ghoul soon following her as he closed the door behind him. Sarah's eyes began to adjust, noting lights coming from a separate room. Hancock began to walk towards the lights, Sarah following in his wake.

"So now to the reason why you're here. I'm sorry that I had to be so vague in front of Miss Wright, but I believe that she wouldn't have approved otherwise."

Hancock turned into a room, which allowed Sarah to finally see the source of the lighting. A series of candles lit up the room, surrounding a lone chair that was occupied by a man shackled by his feet to the floor.

 _Ryke._

The man's face was busted up as he sat slumped with his head down, blood dripping down onto the floor.

"Is he?"

"Dead?" Hancock shook his head. "No."

Sarah swallowed. The smell of the room was making her stomach begin to turn. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Did Piper tell you anything about this man? Anything he has done in the past?"

Sarah shook her head. It was difficult to take her eyes off the helpless man who was chained in front of her.

"Let me fill you in. Our friend Ryke here isn't exactly what you call a team player. In fact he shot the only other guys he ran with in the back and left them to die in mirelurk territory. Bad way to go. He's a murderer, he's a rapist. The latter we didn't know, but he just shot it out recently when we asked him about some things that have unfortunately occurred here recently."

"Sounds like a son of a bitch." Sarah muttered. "If he's that much of a threat, why did you let him stay?"

"Yeah, that's a fair question." Hancock grimaced. "I knew his sister. Nice girl, always on the lookout for the fresh way out. This life wasn't for her, that's for sure. She asked me to look out for him if any harm came her way. I'm sorry Josie, but I cannot stand by any longer. She wouldn't hold it against me I believe. Not if she saw what he had become. But maybe it's due to her death that he became what sits in front of you. I don't know. But he's not fit for this world now either. Unfortunately for all of us he's at the other end of that spectrum, the lowest end. He's found quite an obsession in Piper. I fear that if I let him leave this place, harm will not only come to her, but to you too. That's why he is yours."

Sarah arched an eyebrow. "Mine? What do you mean by that?"

"His life is yours to take. I know you wanted to, I could see it in your eyes. You could have let him walk away, but you stood forward. You wanted the danger gone."

The woman shook her head adamantly. "I'm no murderer."

"I believe you. But this is not murder. This is simply eliminating a problem that will save many lives down the road. Ryke will take your friend. He will put forth his will onto her. This is your opportunity to stop that from happening. This is your chance to make sure she's safe."

Sarah looked down at the chained man. _You wanted to kill him. Here's your chance. Remember what Piper said. Power and violence runs through this place. Make her safe._ Sarah tried to shake off the thoughts that raced through her mind. _Safe? How can we ever be safe again?_

"No. Safety is a lie. I knew safety. This world doesn't have it, not really, not like how it should be. I won't kill him for a fake goal." Sarah narrowed her eyes. "But that doesn't matter, does it? You're going to kill him anyway. After all you've said. You just wanted to see what I'd do."

Hancock threw up his hands slightly. "You got me. As I said, you intrigued me. And I wanted to see how you'd really react in this situation. Every time Piper visits us here, she's alone. I've never seen her travel with another. She must see something in you. I do now, anyway. But here's some advice, from one traveler to another. As you travel through this world that we reside in, there will come a time where you need to make a decision. A choice if you will. You or them. A moment of survival. It will push you beyond any limits you thought you had. Especially when it comes to the protection of those that you care about. Wherever you came from, this isn't what you know."

Hancock pulled forth a blade from his coat. "You're free to return. I hope this evening hasn't put you out."

Sarah shook her heads as she stared at the knife. "I understand it's purpose."

"Good, I'm glad." He stepped towards Ryke. "You can take your leave. You don't need to watch this."

Sarah stared down at the man for the last time. "Do what you gotta do."

"Very well."

* * *

"Blue?"

Sarah closed the door quietly behind her. "It's me. It's fine, go back to sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

Piper laid her head back down, her voice faint. "Okay Blue."

Sarah patted Dogmeat and tip toed back to the bed, once again staring up at the cracks in the ceiling as she laid down. "Hey Piper?"

"Mm?"

"Why do you call me 'blue'?"

"Mmm.." Piper didn't react fully as sleep began to embrace her once more. Her voice was light as it only just reached Sarah's ears. "It's because.. of your eyes.." Sarah glanced over at the woman, the reporters eyes firmly shut. "A beautiful shade.. of blue.." As Piper drifted off to sleep, Sarah turned away from the ceiling onto her side. As she now looked directly upon Piper's face, Sarah never removed her gaze from the reporters peaceful expression before finally she too drifted to sleep.


	10. Past acts

"Wake up, Blue. We've got things to do."

 _Eugh. What I wouldn't give for a good old cup of coffee._

Sarah rolled over, attempting to ignore Piper's words. "Just give me five more minutes. I swear. Five more minutes..."

 **Six minutes later.**

"Okay, that's your lot. I even let you have an extra minute because I'm a giver after all."

Sarah groaned as she opened her eyes. "Someone's going to take advantage of that generous nature one day."

Piper shook her head. "They can try, but I'm a good judge of character. Talking of characters, what did Hancock want last night?"

"Ever the reporter, eh?" Sarah rubbed her eyes as she stood from the bed, stretching her arms into the air which brought a small groan from her lips. "What's your story with him?"

"Hancock?" The reporter shrugged nonchalantly. "He's always treated me right since I've been coming by here. He can be intimidating and you don't want to get on his bad side, but he wants to do some good here. I interviewed him once but he asked me to scrap it before it went to press. Shame, there was some juicy stuff in there."

"You scrapped it?"

"Yeah. I mean I didn't exactly want the force of Goodneighbor on me. It's hard enough getting around as it is, especially getting good leads and solid sources. And he's looked out for me, so I respect his wish." Piper narrowed her eyes. "Don't get any ideas now. Your story will definitely be going to press."

"If we ever finish that interview." Sarah grinned.

"We will, I told you, after we get back into Diamond City and clear your name. But before all that, we need to get things done outside of it's walls. So you can start by telling me what Hancock wanted you for in the middle of the night? I'm not stupid, I know it wasn't for some welcome speech." She nodded towards Dogmeat. "He didn't believe that either."

Sarah looked towards Dogmeat, the animals head tilting slightly in confusion. "Who's a smart boy?" Dogmeat happily wagged his tail as he welcomed the scratch just behind the ear from Sarah. She glanced at Piper, the reporter slightly raising an eyebrow.

"You can forget scratching me behind the ear too, Blue."

Sarah laughed as she moved towards the door. She opened it, briefly looking out before closing it once more. Piper's eyebrow stayed in place. "Jeez, paranoid?"

"You can never be too careful." Sarah took a seat on the bed next to Piper. "He took me to what looked like a warehouse a few minutes away." Sarah paused. _Should I tell her? Hancock must believe that I would, given his mind games. If I don't there's.._

Piper waved her hand in front of Sarah's face. "Oh no. None of this think of a story malarkey. Truth, now."

"You can be quite forceful." Sarah grinned.

"Sometime you have to be. Continue."

Sarah chuckled slightly, quickly shaking it away as she became serious once more. "Ryke was chained up in the warehouse." She watched for any flashes of emotion on Piper's face, but the reporter's expression gave nothing away.

"I see." Piper paused for a few seconds before her voice returned, a little uncertainly. "Did you kill him?"

Their eyes locked. Sarah's answer was firm. "No."

Piper let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. But he is dead though, isn't he?"

Sarah nodded. "He is."

"I thought so. Still. It's a waste. Hancock offered you the chance to take his life. Because you stood up for me in the courtyard."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you? I mean don't get me wrong, I think you did the right thing."

Sarah pondered her answer. "It's not who I am. I know that in this world, there are times where I will need to take a life. For my protection, for those who accompany me. But ever since I got out of the vault, it's not something that I've done lightly. If I could, I've actively avoided doing so. It took a pep talk from a bloody housekeeper to even snap me into that line of thinking. I.." Sarah paused. "This is probably where I should say off the record, but who cares, right? Everyone's gone. Before the war, I hated guns. My husband was a soldier. He was so proud and there were parts of me that was proud of him.. but parts of me hated him for it too. He served his country with dignity. But he didn't like the thoughts of being settled, of being tied down." Tears began to well in Sarah's eyes. "Son of a bitch was looking for an exit. One night when he was away on deployment I heard a noise in the kitchen. I grabbed one of his pistols from his draw in our room. He taught me how to use it, said it'd be a precautionary matter but also something 'fun' to do together." Sarah shook her head as tears freely fell. "There was a man in the kitchen trying to rob us, thought we'd be an easy target with Nate gone. He came at me with a knife. He didn't see the gun since it was dark. I shot him square between the eyes. He was dead before he hit the floor."

Piper pulled Sarah into a hug. "That's.. that's horrible. I'm so sorry you went through that."

"Thanks." Sarah pulled away slightly as she started to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "I know in this world it's a common occurrence. But.. it changed a lot back then. Nate was around a lot more. He felt bad about what had happened. We soon realized, well I did at least, that being together was pushing us apart even more. I was ready to leave when.."

"The baby?"

Sarah nodded. "It rocked my world. And so I stayed. I thought, maybe, it could be a fresh chance for us. A new opportunity." She motioned around the room. "Guess I was right in some way." Sarah wiped her eyes dry. "At least there's no makeup to run." She muttered before clearing her throat. "So that's why. I didn't want to put him down while he was tied up. That wasn't me. And I didn't think you'd want that either."

"You did the right thing, Blue. And I can't imagine what you went through. Hell I still can't even begin to imagine what you're going through now. But you're wrong about one thing."

"Which part?"

Piper reached out to squeeze her hand. "You said everyone's gone. That's not true. Your son is out there somewhere. And we're going to find him."

Sarah smiled softly. "You're right."

"Of course I am. Now!" Piper bounced to her feet. "Lets go and get started." She offered Sarah her hand once more.

Sarah couldn't help but find Piper's spirit infectious. "I'm with you." Taking her hand, she stood as the two women began to collect their belongings. After a couple of minutes, they shared a silent nod as they walked towards the door.

"What are you going to say to Hancock?"

Piper looked at Sarah. "About what you told me? Nothing."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you."

The reporter portrayed mock offense. "I can't believe you don't believe me. I'm going to say nothing. I might punch him in the face though, for putting you through it."

"I.. don't think that'd be a good idea."

Piper grinned. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. I'll be gone before he gets back up. I'm quick on my feet. Try to keep up!" The reporter laughed as she hopped down the stairs, Sarah couldn't help but smiling as she did so too.

 _Sometimes it's good to just pretend..._

"Okay Piper, I get it, you're still a kid and.." As she reached the bottom of the staircase, she had to suddenly stop herself from bounding into someone else. "Oh, I'm sorry I.." She stepped back as she took in the familiar attire. "It can't be.."

The ghouls eyes went wide, the shock not hidden from his expression or words. "It's.. it's you! Sanctuary Hills! How.. HOW are you here?"

Piper stood confused as she watched the interaction between the ghoul and Sarah. "Err.. should I be concerned or..?"

Sarah stood dumbfounded. _The Vault-Tec rep. He's a ghoul. And he's right.. fucking.. here._ Before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the ghoul into a hug.

To Piper's shock, the ghoul hugged her back. "Well I didn't see this coming."

* * *

 **This wasn't a planned chapter (I was getting them hunting for info, which'll be next time now) - bits were, but I expanded on somethings I considered leaving out until later. Still, I wanted to delve a bit more into Sarah, who she is, things she's done and experiencing etc. Plus to show that she's being truthful with Piper. Guess she feels comfortable.**


	11. Connections

Piper couldn't help but watch in silence at the display in front of her. The lobby of the Hotel Rexford wasn't exactly thriving with people coming and going, so the display didn't garner much attention from it's few occupants.

Finally Sarah pulled away, breaking the hug with the ghoul. "I can't imagine what you've been through. I'm so sorry."

The ghoul's sadness shined through in his words. "It's been horrible, so, so horrible. Two hundred years of this!" He gestured at himself, shaking his head extravagantly. "I've had no one. No one to talk to. No one to.. care for. Everyone I knew was lost." He paused, still gawking at the woman. "How did you survive like this?"

"The vault." Sarah caught the radiating air of confusion. "Wait. You didn't know?"

"Know what? I know that Vault-Tec were a rotten group of scoundrels, that's for sure! Twenty years of service and nothing, not even on the list! How couldn't I be on the list? Your face is perfect and mine, mine is.. this!"

"They were a rotten bunch of bastards, that's for sure." Sarah sighed. "They cryogenically froze us. I only woke up recently. There was a malfunction in the systems. I.. I'm the only one who made it out of there out of all of the residents."

"Oh." The rep stared down at his shoes. "I didn't know about that. I've heard stories about other vaults since but nothing to do with freezing." The ghoul hesitated. "So your family?"

"My husband was killed, my baby kidnapped by an outside force. We were thawed out - I saw it all happen in front of me. Something went wrong after they re-froze us. Everyone was killed. Apart from me."

"I am sorry for what you went through. To be brought now into this world. Nobody knows what it was like before. This, all of it, it's wrong. So wrong. The bloodshed. The murder. The filth that we live in. I..I can't stand it."

Sarah nodded solemnly. "It's nothing like it was."

"And nobody, nobody wants an old vault ghoul hanging around! So here I am. In this rundown shit hole."

"You have nowhere else to go?"

The rep shook his head sadly. "No one will have me."

 _This poor soul. I've been dropped into this world but he's lived it, every single thing, for two hundred years. Surely there must be a way I can help. There's got to be something. Wait a minute..._

"Do you remember the way back to Sanctuary Hills?"

"Yes." He nodded. "That robot of yours was too chirpy the last time I was there after the bombs fell."

"Yeah Codsworth is still there. But. There's a new settlement forming there, led by the Minutemen. Go there. Tell Preston Garvey that the General sent you. They'll sort you a bed, some work and everything you need. That's if your interested of course."

"Really?" Shock once again filled the man's voice. "You really mean that?"

"I do. And once I'm sorted with some business, I'll stop by. We can talk more." Sarah pointed at Piper, the reporter suddenly snapping to attention in surprise. "This is my friend Piper. She writes for a newspaper. I'm sure she'd love to get an interview with you. For another perspective on life before all of this."

"Absolutely!" Piper grinned, suddenly able to talk once more. "I'd love to hear your story."

"I.. I.. yes! Yes I'll go!" The ghoul sounded excited. "I'll go to Sanctuary Hills and tell them what you said. And you'll come and visit, right?"

Sarah smiled. "Absolutely. You know, I don't actually know your name."

"My name? It's been so long since anyone asked. It's Paul."

"I'm so glad to see you again, Paul. My name is Sarah."

"Ah, yes, thank you. I might have forgotten after all this time, Sarah." The ghoul suddenly stood up straight. "I'm going to go right now. I'll see you there, both of you!" The ghoul spun around, heading straight to the front door with a purpose.

Piper shook her head. "Jeez, Blue. That was unreal. I know I say this a lot with you but, wow."

Sarah stepped forward, pulling Piper into a silent hug. The reporter was startled slightly before returning the connection, feeling the comfort that Sarah now felt as she held her softly.

"It's okay, Blue." Piper whispered as she slowly mindlessly stroking the back of Sarah's head. "It's all going to be okay."

* * *

 _ **Journal of Piper Wright #7 (I think).**_ _ **Entry #26. On the road from Goodneighbor.**_

 _I still can't believe this is happening._

 _Feels like years since I wrote in this damn journal. My last update was a while back, that's for sure. Talking about paint? For the wall? Riveting. Everything's a little different now eh? I'd say it's probably for the better. I mean, I'm part of one of the biggest news stories of my lifetime. You know the one. No? Oh it's just the one that nobody knows about. That'll change though soon enough though._

 _It's funny. Part of me thinks.. should I? Should I print her story? Because I do enjoy having this exclusive. Just me and her. Seeking out the truth._

 _Don't give me that look dog. I know you can't read. But can you read my mind?! Oh brother._

 _The bombshell she told me in the hotel. Wow. I'm not usually lost for words. But I'm continually failing with the things she says. I mean how can you reply really? "OH I'm sorry you've shot 200 years into the future where everything you know is either ashes or missing. Fancy some gum Blue?" It's hard because I want to find the right words. Maybe it'll become easier as she adapts to all of this. Or I just find those words at last. I'm hopping it's the latter. I'd hate to see her loose hope._

 _And that meeting with her vault rep! How can you ever predict something like that? 200 years later and bang. They almost, literally, collide! I couldn't say a word. Their connection in those minutes.. it's just, a total trip. He's heading to her old home now. There's a settlement forming there, part of her Minutemen. I'd quite like to meet them. I'd like to see Sanctuary too. If she's willing of course. So close to that vault... It's so impressive how she handled that. You can tell she cares. Her heart is pure. And then afterwards.. she needed that. There wasn't any tears. She just needed that moment._

 _Spoke to Hancock after we left the hotel. "You mad at me?" He asked. What gave that away? Pointed us to the Rail. Magnolia was singing, damn, what a set. Of songs! Get your mind out of the gutter. A merc tried to sell himself to us, Blue smiled but shoo'd him off. Met one of Hancocks sources. Had a name for us - Skinny Malone. Heard a few tales about him before. Based up in an old vault. Said he'd heard rumblings of a certain detective there. I should probably tell her about Nick. Might come as a bit of a shock otherwise. Anyway we're heading there, resting now. Should be sleeping but why am I writing again? To keep sharp? To keep a record? I don't know the answer. She keeps shooting me this look. I can't read it. But it's got a smile to it, so I guess it's positive. Maybe she's hoping that this'll kick off her search for answers. I certainly hope so._

 _But what if it doesn't? This is the lead I have. It's my failure._

 _No! Keep positive. Lets find Nick. I'm sure he can help. He's got experience with things such as this. Well as much as you can have with Blue's background._

 _She says she's doing okay, but we're on our way to a vault. I mean it's not her vault. But still - it can't help her mindset. I don't want to push it, I want to take her words as the truth. I hope she's going to be okay once we get inside._

 _I really want Nat to meet her too once we sort this all out. A role model to be proud of. It'd be nice for her. Hopefully she's not getting an earful of it back in the city... Because of me. I'll hopefully see you soon, sis._

 _Okay now the dog's looking at me like I'm mad. You're the mad one!_

 _No it's totally me isn't it?_

 _Sleep? Sleep._

 _\- P_

 _P.S. Why did I even write this? I haven't even explained who she is or why I'm doing this. Great stuff, real cutting edge work. From paint to this. Doubt it'll get published one day. 'The real life ramblings of a journalist on the brink of MAAAADDDNEESSSS!'._

 _But in case it does. Her name is Sarah. She is the sole survivor of Vault 111. And I'm doing this for her. Because it's the right thing to do. And because.. never mind._

* * *

 **Next chapter - the search for Nick continues as they arrive at Vault 114. How will Sarah react to another vault environment? A little different here with the Piper entry, but I wanted a bit of her thoughts too.**

 **I want to thank you all for pushing the story past 100 followers, that's super cool and I do appreciate all your love and feedback.**


	12. Be my Valentine?

Sarah looked down at the bodies by her feet. She shook her head as she picked up a submachine gun, examining the weapon before once again placing it down onto the floor.

"Not for you?"

Sarah turned her head to look inquisitively at Piper. "Sorry?" Piper nodded towards the gun with Sarah following the motion. "No. Not quite effective enough. I prefer to end things quickly, if it comes to it. These? They're not so accurate. I'd probably end up spinning around with it and firing holes in the ceiling."

"That conjurers up a funny image or two, Blue."

"Yeah well you won't be saying that when we're under fire again."

It had been the first time Sarah had been shot at, without warning, since Piper had joined her in the hunt for answers after they had left the confines of Diamond City. Up to the point of entering Park Street Station, the two women had been lucky in either simply avoiding the danger or said danger becoming distracted with something else equally as deadly. After a couple months outside the vault, Sarah wasn't quite as green as she was when it came to situations of a deadly nature. While she wouldn't ever get used to killing on a semi-regular basis, it was reassuring to have someone similarly armed watching her back. Thankfully for her, Piper was fairly confident with a weapon. While a few shots were needlessly wasted, in time, Sarah was confident that she could help iron out a few kinks in the reporters repertoire.

 _Did you ever think I'd become this sort of teacher, Nate?_

"You know it's funny." Sarah turned from the body and rejoined Piper by her side. "Back in my time, the mob were always pretty prominent with the finger being pointed their way whenever bad stuff went down. Had a fair few cases myself. And here we are, two hundred plus years later and I'm still dealing with these idiots. I'm starting to believe that not as many things changed as I initially thought."

Piper looked up at the woman. "Lets just hope that's our last lot then." She motioned for Sarah to follow as they began to walk again, the reports voice now tuning down to just above a whisper. "And if not, we can only hope that the rest of them have such awful aim too." She looked towards Dogmeat, the dog happily trotting beside Sarah with his nose to the ground. "Nothing bothers him, does it?"

Sarah glanced down with a smile towards her four legged friend. "Not really. I don't think he likes cats much though. I was at a farm near Sanctuary, the settlers there had a cat. I've seen Dogmeat stare down humans, mutants.. hell, even a deathclaw I think it was called? But as soon as he saw that cat, he hid behind me for the whole time."

"Wait, wait!" Piper whispered, despite wanting to shout it out loud. "You've faced a deathclaw? The two of you?!"

"Yeah. Killed it too."

Piper stood dumbfounded as Sarah walked on, the vault dweller turning around as she continued to walk on. "I'll tell you about it later." Sarah winked as she turned back around, leaving Piper to stare at the woman's back before jogging to catching back up to her companion.

"You better. You continue to surprise, Blue. I definitely need to hear about that later."

Sarah laughed quietly. "I won't forget." She came to a halt as she noticed what was ahead. "There it is."

Piper locked eyes on the giant sealed vault door. The reporter whistled, impressed at the size. "So that's a vault door, eh? Vault-Tec didn't mess around when it came to keeping people out." Piper immediately caught herself, cursing under her breathe. "Shit. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

Sarah shook off her concern. "It's fine, your point still stands. However the man got into our vault, I'm sure Vault-Tec wouldn't have expected it to be penetrated without their own access." She raised her pipboy into the air. "This is how I got out of Vault 111. Fingers crossed it'll get us into here."

"Lets hope so. Are you going to be okay here, Blue?"

"Because of the vault? Yeah. I'll be okay."

 _I think._

"Well let's give this a shot, eh?" Sarah approached the console, lifting the cap. As she connected her pipboy, it only took a couple of seconds for authorization to be given. "Looks like we're in." As she closed the cap, she watched as the door mechanism came to life.

Piper leaned in close. "Hopefully there's nobody on the other side of this door. I think any notion of stealth just went out of the window."

* * *

"Blue, there's something I need to tell you. About Nick Valentine."

As Piper and Sarah explored Vault 114, thus far, they had not encountered the illusive detective. They did however run into odd triggermen scattered around the facility, but those quickly fell without harm coming their way. It was a little surreal to be inside another vault for Sarah. While much looked the same in the initial stages, as the two delved deeper she had no real inkling of similarities that drudged up any bad memories of her time in Vault 111. They hadn't found any cryo chambers and the further in they went, if anything, was more of an eye opener. _Was our vault like this too?_

"If you tell me he's not actually here and that you really just wanted to do a story on a vault, I'm not going to be happy."

"Damn. You got me." Piper rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the grin off her face. "No he's definitely supposed to be here. But. Okay." Piper paused as she composed her question. "What do you know about synths? If anything that is."

"Synths?" Sarah checked around a corner before proceeding. "Just bits and pieces I've picked up when I helped the Brotherhood a while back. Created by something called the 'Institute', right?"

"Correct. The bogeymen of the Commonwealth. Beyond the synths that are walking around, there's no proof they even exist. Nobody knows where they are."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Then why bring them up now?"

"Well." Piper paused. "Nick's a synth. An old model, that is. He's not like what you might have encountered on your travels so far."

"A synth detective? Well that's different. So what, he's a good synth?"

"Pretty much?" Piper nodded, but didn't sound too sure. "There was a little bit of an uproar when he first came to Diamond City. But he worked hard and eventually helped a fair few people. He's been accepted by the vast majority ever since."

"I see. So what you're saying is they'll accept a synth, but I'm banished off the bat. Gee, thanks for that reminder Piper."

The reporters eyes went wide before noticing the grin on Sarah's face. She nudged her slightly. "Well sorry! I won't give you a heads up in the future."

"Hey, hey. I appreciate it. But if you're cool with Nick, I'm going to trust your judgement. Alright?"

Piper smiled. "Sounds good with me. Hey if you're going to be accepting like that, I've got this other friend I'd love to introduce you to. He's a lonely but sweet mirelurk and.."

"Don't push your luck, Pipes."

Piper stopped as she placed her hands on her hips. "Pipes?"

Sarah shrugged. "If I get a nickname, so do you."

"That's not fair! You literally just changed the 'r' for an 's'. That shouldn't even count. At least 'Blue' is inventive. For the blue of the vault suit and all. See? Now that's a clever nickname."

 _The suit? A little too late for that Piper. Somebody doesn't know how honest they get when they're about to fall asleep..._ Sarah grinned as she pushed back the memory. "If it bothers you that much, I'll work on it. But until then, Pipes."

Piper shook her head and grunted. "You're a monster, Blue."

"Maybe I am." _But I'm a monster with beautiful blue eyes, whether you remember or not._ Sarah smiled to herself as she opened the door, taking the stairs further into Vault 114.

* * *

"Well well. Not that I don't appreciate the save, but you weren't high up on the list of people I thought that would come in here guns blazing Piper."

Nick Valentine lit a cigarette as he watched the two women enter the Overseers' office in Vault 114. Sarah could see why Piper had given her the heads up. Nick was unlike any other synth that she had seen on her travels. She didn't know whether the amount of holes was a testament to the platforms age, or how much trouble it might have gotten into over the years.

"No?" Piper grinned. "Who else were you expecting, Moe and his lucky bat?"

"Hardly." Nick took a drag on his cigarette. "Still, guess I shouldn't be too picky. I take it this was an intended visit? I can't see Public Occurrences giving much face time to Skinny Malone and his gang of misfits."

"Got it in one Nick. Now if we could save the chat for after we get out of here, that'd probably be a good idea. Who knows when more of his goons will show up."

"Good call, especially with Dino now being unable to check back in." One accurate bullet was all that was needed for Sarah to drop the guard smack talking Valentine from outside of the room. Nick turned his head to fix his gaze upon Sarah. "Either I've been in here longer than I thought, or you're not Nat. Whichever way it is, I owe you my thanks as well."

"Don't thank us yet Nick, it's a kiss of death in these situations." Piper walked towards the door. "This is Sarah. You and her are going to have a conversation when we get free of this mess. That's when we'll accept it as your thanks for saving you."

Nick and Sarah stared at each other as Piper jogged out the room with Dogmeat following. "That gal is unstoppable with a head of steam on her."

Sarah smiled. "You're telling me."

"Better catch up with her before she gets into too much trouble." Nick moved towards the door, picking up Dino's pistol as he passed. "You ready to get the heck out of this damn vault?"

Sarah glanced around the room. "More than you know."

* * *

 **Apologies for the lack of updates in the last few weeks, was fighting through a bout of the flu. Back now though and eager to push forward!**


	13. Superhero

_Oh joyous.. er, fresh air?_

It hadn't been a simple stroll towards the exit for Sarah, Piper, Dogmeat and Nick Valentine in their quest to leave Vault 114. The triggermen that they encountered as they made their way back up through the vault continued to cause little discomfort. It was the welcome they received at the exit that proved to be their biggest test.

Skinny Malone didn't live up to his name. An imposing figure, he was actually surprisingly well dressed in his almost a completely dirt free tuxedo. He certainly wasn't happy with the breakout of Nick Valentine, continually being prodded towards action by his lover Darla. It turned out that Darla was in fact the reason behind Nick's lock-up after her parents had hired Nick to try and find their 'kidnapped' daughter. It was plain to see however that the young women was their by her own choice.

Sarah wasn't sure exactly how she remembered the words that came to her. But as she stared down at the mobster who was running his mouth, they emerged from her throat with confidence.

 _"Skinny. Remember the Quarry and Lilly June on the rocks."_

The mobster wasn't the only one taken aback. All eyes were on Sarah, including those of Pipers, who looked at her companion with utter confusion at why Sarah had spoken up and what exactly she had meant by it. And yet somehow, it worked. Mercy was declared and they were given seconds to get out of sight and free from Malone, much to Darla's frustration. The group took the opportunity, following Nick as he made for an exit that would lead them back above ground. Though Sarah hoped she wouldn't have to try and carry Dogmeat up a ladder ever again.

"Where the heck did that come from, Blue?" Piper didn't waste any time as she closed the exit behind her.

"Would you believe me if I said some sort of psychic elderly lady told me back at Sanctuary Hills?"

"Well I wouldn't if any body else told me, that's for sure!" Piper threw up her hands. "But I guess since it's you.."

Sarah grinned slightly. "I'm trustworthy? Nice. I should tell you about this alien I saw.."

"Oh ha ha." Piper rolled her eyes. "I'm not a complete sucker."

"I don't mean to interrupt this little back and forth, but we're exposed out here and I'm not sure how long Darla will be able to keep Skinny Malone holstered. And we're still standing right by the exit." Nick motioned to the hatch. "We need to get free of this, back to Diamond City. We'll be able to talk there."

"Yeah about that Nick.."

Nick analysed the grimace forming on both women's faces. "What did you do this time, Piper?"

"Hey it wasn't me!

Sarah shot a look at Piper. "Hey! Thanks for throwing me under the bus."

"I'm sorry Blue but under the bus?" Piper waited for an explanation.

"Ah, um, never mind. But okay yeah, I may have had a part to play."

"A part to play?" Piper chuckled. "You're the one that's banned!"

"Banned, hm?" Nick began to walk, clearly eager to get back to Diamond City. Sarah and Piper didn't wait around as they began to follow with Dogmeat trotting behind. "Like to tell me how that happened there? It's not often that individuals get that special treatment."

And so Sarah began to tell Nick about what had happened. At Piper's behest, she didn't leave out any details. From her past, to the escape and arriving at Diamond City all the way to the incident with Nate's killer and her meeting with the Mayor. Nick was silent for a minute as he processed the information.

Piper had taken Sarah's hand midway through the story, opting to squeeze it for support as she talked about Shaun. However, neither of the women chose to let go of the other as Sarah continued to tell her tale. The two walked hand in hand and it was only when Sarah had finished talking did she finally look down at their interlocked fingers. Piper also looked at their hands before their eyes finally met each others. There were no words between the two until Nick turned back to them. Their hands tentatively pulled away as Nick looked between the two of them.

"I'm sorry about your ordeal, Sarah, It's a terrible situation. But you have my word, I will help you get to the bottom of this. First we need to get you back into Diamond City. Especially if there's a kidnapper and a killer on the loose."

"How do you propose we do that, Nick?" Piper asked, keen to find out if the detective had any answers.

"I'm going to talk to the Mayor and straighten all this out. And then we're going to find the man that took your son."

Sarah nodded. "Okay."

"If Nick says he'll straighten this out, he means it." Piper smiled.

"I believe you, both of you. Just don't mind me if I hide at the back when we get to the entrance."

Piper tutted. "All I am is a human shield to you eh Blue?"

 _You're more than that, Pipes._

 _...oh shit. Not the time, not the time!_

Sarah coughed as she tried to offer a distraction from the heat rushing to her cheeks. "But of course! Remember I'm over 200 years old, I need protecting after all. Something about being in a museum...?"

Piper laughed. It was an incredibly bright, warm and vibrant sound that hit Sarah straight in the chest.

 _Oh.. god._

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the group to arrive back at Diamond City. Piper questioned Nick on their way, prying for any sort of information that he may have already started mulling over in his head. The detective stayed quiet for the most part, stating that while he had a file or two in mind to look over when returning to his office he'd rather not saying anything concrete yet.

 _Excellent. I haven't been shot yet!_

The gate was closed as they arrived, but Sarah could already see one of the guards on patrol looking her way.

"You best stay out of the way out here. I'll head in and talk to the Mayor." Nick turned towards the two women. "Stay out of trouble and don't make this any harder. The guards will be watching you."

Sarah nodded. "I'm not going to do a thing." She turned to Piper. "You should go in and see Nat."

"I won't leave you out here, Blue. We'll see her after Nick comes back."

"I'll be fine, really. Go and see her. You know she'll be happy to see you. Please."

Piper sighed. "Fine. Just.. just don't do anything stupid, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

Sarah drew a cross over her heart. "I solemnly swear that I won't do anything stupid while you're gone."

Piper hesitated slightly before nodding, backing away and turning to walk towards the shutters of Diamond City with Nick. As Valentine spoke into the console, it only took a few seconds for the gate to rise once more. Two security guards stepped forward, stopping Nick and Piper as they pointed towards Sarah and Dogmeat. Around a minute later, the guards stepped back and allowed the two to travel further into the stadium. Piper turned, taking one last look back before she climbed the stairs out of sight.

"Back to the deadly duo, eh boy?"

Dogmeat looked up at Sarah as his tail wagged happily. He accepted the stroke behind the ears as Sarah continued to talk to her four legged friend. "So what's the plan if they rush us from the stadium, hm? Oh yeah? Really? I'm not sure that'd work! But if you're sure.."

Sarah could see the two security guards who stopped Nick and Sarah watching her like a hawk. "You take the one on the left. I've got the right one, he's bigger, less work for you. Hm? Well if you insist." Sarah yawned. It felt like days without a good number of hours of sleep.

 _Man I hope Nick can work his magic. I need sleep. Hope Pipes got a spare bed I can crash on. Or if she'll be willing to share hers._

"Jeez, get those thoughts gone!" Dogmeat looked up inquisitively at his owner. Sarah just shook her head, trying to push those thoughts away. "Not the time for this is it boy? Not sure exactly how this has even happened. Damn stupid on my part. Stupid feelings, that's for sure. It's nothing, right? I'm just tired. My head will be clearer after a good nights rest."

 _She's done so much for me in such a short time. She's basically given up everything to help me. She's a good friend, the best I have.. the only one I have._

Distant shouts pulled Sarah out of her thoughts. Her eyes went wide.

"Oh fuck!"

Four guards were sprinting down the stairs, heading straight towards her armed to the teeth. An explosion almost knocked her off her feet as smoke billowed east of the stadium down one of the alleys. As she composed herself, she watched as the guards turned and headed straight towards the blast.

"They're not coming for us. The explosion.. whatever that was.."

Sarah stared at Diamond City's entrance. Only one guard remained, one of the two on door duty had joined up with the pack heading outside the stadium.

 _He'd be easy to rush. I'd be in before they knew anything about it._

Gunfire erupted from where the guards had run to.

 _Sorry Pipes. I'm about to do something stupid._

"Come on boy!" Sarah pulled her pistol free and set off at a run. _This is a bad idea. This is totally a bad idea._

She locked eyes with the guard at the gate and nodded as she turned away from the stadium, running at full speed towards the gunfire. She could see one of the bodies of the guards on the floor, blood seeping from a shot to his chest. The others were pinned down as they unleashed a barrage of fire on a group of super mutants. One of the guards dropped down with a yell, frantically crawling towards the cover of an old run down building. Sarah dove forward, grabbing his hand as she pulled him back to his feet. Carrying his weight on her shoulder, she made it into the building and eased the guard to the ground.

"Shit.. Shit.." The guard looked up at her. "I can't.. fucking believe you're the one who saved me." The guard pulled off his mask.

"Dick?" Sarah grimaced as she locked eyes with the guard who had taken her to the Mayor and had, in general, been a royal pain in the ass to her during her incarceration. She focused back on the situation, pulling out a stimpack and injecting the guard. "You're going to be okay, you hear me?"

The man grimaced as he nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I just.. need to get back out there and put down those fuckers." He tried to stand but grunted as he fell back to the floor. "Damn it!"

"Stay down. I'll help your guys."

Dick looked as if he wanted to say something, anything about why she'd be helping them after everything that happened. But he knew it'd do nothing to help the situation. He gulped. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Sarah jumped back to her feet and exited the building. As Sarah joined the fight, the rest of the guards saw her arrival and pushed through the pain they were feeling. The tide soon turned as finally the last mutant fell, a well placed bullet directly between his eyes that exited from Sarah's gun. She quickly returned to the building, offering a hand to Dick that he took gratefully. The three others guards left alive joined her as one took the injured guards arm over the shoulder.

"I might just have been wrong about you." Dick said as he started to limp back with the other guards.

Another guard chimed in. "Yeah. Damn whatever the Mayor says. You just saved our asses."

Sarah stayed silent as she walked slowly back towards the entrance with the guards. She stood off to the side as she watched them help Dick inside the stadium.

"Wait." Dick turned his head to look at her. "Rodge was right. Damn McDonough's decree. You just did more for this city than most of the residents ever will. If he's got a problem with you coming in here, he's got a problem with us." The other guards nodded, offering up their voices in agreement. "Get your ass in here. After I get patched up, I owe you a drink."

Sarah grinned. "That I can do."

As Sarah climbed the stairs back into Diamond City, she shrugged as she saw Nick Valentine approaching with a quizzical look on his face. "Well. Looks like you didn't need me after all."

"Nonsense, Nick. It seems to me that we're just getting started."

 _Take two. Lets do it right this time._

* * *

 **Hey look! A tiny bit of action. Ya'll should know by know I hate writing it - so this is the most you'll ever get, mwhaha!**

 **Coming soon - the ultimate showdown in New Blue World. What we've been building towards since Sarah's arrival...**

 **Sarah v Myrna - Dawn of Trading! (Not a film by Zack Snyder).  
**

 **As always - love & thanks to you all for reading. **


	14. DC Love-In (Part I)

"So what did you say to the Mayor?"

Sarah began to walk slowly down the steps of Diamond City as she once again took in the sights and sounds of the 'great green jewel of the Commonwealth'.

"I simply reminded him of his duty to protect the people."

"That's a little vague, Nick." Sarah glanced over at the detective who didn't seem to be in a rush to offer up any further answers on the subject.

"Two can play at these questions. How did you get past the guards? Don't tell me that Diamond City will have to hire a new security team."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't do that. I just helped them out with some mutants."

"You say that as if it's a normal thing for people to do around here." The two reached the bottom of the stairs, Dogmeat soon joining them at the foot of the city.

"It was the right thing to do."

Nick analysed Sarah as he reached into his pockets for another smoke. "You're certainly not of the norm, that's for sure." Nick lit his cigarette before taking a drag. "So. My office?"

Sarah forcibly tried to suppress a yawn. "While I'd love to Nick, I need to get some sleep. I'm in no shape to offer up any meaningful conversations right now."

"Understandable, it's been a rough couple of days. Tell you what, drop by my office in the morning. I should probably check in with Ellie, if I know her she's worried sick by now. Do you have a place to stay?"

Sarah shot a glance towards Piper's office. "Yeah. I think so."

"Good." Nick nodded. "I'll see you in the morning." Sarah watched as Nick walked away, heading off towards the market before walking towards Piper's office. Sarah took a quick look towards the market. _Myrna isn't selling right now, the robot is out. Should really head over there tomorrow and talk things out. It'd be nice to know why I'm already in her bad books._ Taking a quick breath, she knocked on the door and awaited a response from inside.

No response came.

Sarah looked down at Dogmeat. "Er, this is the right place isn't it?" She knocked once more, but again, there was no sign of the reporter.

 _Great. So now what?_

"Appreciate you not jimmying the lock."

Sarah jumped at the voice behind her, turning around to meet Piper's smirk head on. "Did I scare you?"

"Little bit, yeah." Sarah admitted as she slowed her breathing.

"Good! What did you expect when I saw a known convict considering breaking into my home, hmm? I had to take action. But I guess Nick really came through then."

Sarah nodded. "He did."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "And you being here has nothing to do with what I just overheard, right? Something about you single handily killing a group of super mutants?"

"I was going to tell you."

The reporter shook her head. "Blue! What did I tell you about doing something stupid!"

"Hey I couldn't just stand by, I needed to do something. It was the right thing to do."

Piper stared wordlessly at Sarah, leading to the sole survivor throwing up her hands. "Why does everybody have that look on their face whenever I say that?"

"It's not a bad look, Blue. It's just.. unexpected. You don't hear people say that often around here, let alone actually follow through and mean it." Piper smiled as she reached into her pocket for a set of keys. "Come on, I don't know about you but I'm beat right about now. I could use some sleep." The reporter stepped past Sarah as she placed the key into her lock and opened the door. "You just missed Nat by the way. I know by now you must be thinking that she doesn't exist and I made her up, but I swear she's real. She's stopping at a friends since I didn't know whether or not I'd be sticking around tonight." Piper stepped into the office as Sarah closed the door behind her. She walked towards the couch, dropping down with a satisfied sigh.

"Makes sense."

Piper smiled. "You'll meet her in the morning."

"Is she doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's a tough kid. Wanted to hear about all the exciting adventures we had out there." Piper chuckled. "Dodging bullets and roaches - fun!" She took a seat on the couch next to Sarah. "She'll be very impressed when word gets around tomorrow about your exploits with 35 super mutants."

"Hey, come on now. It was only like.. six. And I wasn't alone." Sarah yawned as she closed her eyes. "It was totally fine."

"Mmm. Whatever you say, Blue."

* * *

 **Six hours later.**

Sarah smiled to herself as she felt herself wake for the first time in days without the threat of danger immediately hanging over her head.

 _That's it, I've decided. I'm staying here forever. This is the comfiest I've felt in weeks. Especially with.. wait.._ _what's this.._

Sarah opened her eyes tentatively as she looked down at the arms wrapped around her from behind. She felt the presence of Piper holding her tightly, the reporters breath tingling on the back of her neck.

 _Oh well this isn't awkward at all.. But I have to admit.. It feels so.._

"Hi?"

Sarah's eyes shot up to locate the sound of the voice that definitely wasn't hers. Or Pipers. A young girl stood above Piper and her on the couch, staring down at the two women with a confused look on her face. _Aaaaaaand you must be Nat. Right now I totally wish you were imaginary._

"Mm.. hey kiddo.." Piper answered groggily. "What's..." The reporter paused as she came to the realization of the positioning of her body. She sat up quickly and separated, leaving Sarah wide eyed and laying flat on the couch. "Oh! Er. We must have fallen asleep and.." Piper's cheeks started to flush to a hot shade of pink. "Ahem. Nat. This is Sarah, the one I've been telling you about. Blue, this is Nat." She rubbed the back of her neck as she shot to her feet and almost raced to the stairs as she headed out of view. "So anyone for breakfast?"

Sarah forced a smile through as Nat continued to stare at her. "Nice to meet you, Nat." Nat narrowed her eyes as she sat down at the end of the couch, causing Sarah to quickly shuffle up into a seating position with the awkward smile still written on her features.

 _Kill me now._

"Did you really kill a super mutant with your bare hands?"

Sarah was caught of guard by the question. "I.. er.. not with my bare hands, no." She shot a desperate look towards the stairs, hoping for Piper's quick return.

Nat sighed. "That's a shame." She stood, taking one last look at Sarah before heading towards the stairs. "Hey Piper.." Nat climbed the stairs and began talking to her sister, Sarah unable to catch their conversation as she put her hands over her face and sighed.

 _Really nailing it with these first impressions._

* * *

 **Part II later/tomorrow!**


	15. DC Love-In (Part II)

Sarah could feel Nat's eyes on her as Piper darted around the both of them with Dogmeat lying lazily at the feet of the sole survivor.

"You got what you need for school, kid?"

The child's eyes never left the vault dweller. "Like always! You heading out again?"

"Maybe." Piper stuffed some scraps of papers into a small bag. "It depends on what Nick Valentine has for us."

"Okay." Nat hesitated before finally ripping her eyes from Sarah. Turning to Piper, she pulled her into a hug. "Be safe."

Piper smiled softly. "Aren't I always? Head along now, you don't want to be late."

Nat pulled away gingerly and headed towards the door as Piper dashed upstairs. She paused by Sarah and started to whisper out of earshot of her sister. "I'm watching you." Before Sarah had a chance to retort, Nat was out the door and out of sight.

Sarah blinked as she sat confused on the couch. She looked down at Dogmeat. "You saw that too, right pal?" Dogmeat yawned and lowered his head. _And I thought you were on my side!_ "Er, Piper?"

"I'll be down in a minute, just changing."

Sarah blushed slightly. She quickly shook away any instigating thoughts. "I don't think your sister likes me." Sarah looked up as Piper trotted down the stairs.

"Ah don't mind Nat, she's just protective of her big sis. She'll come around, I swear. Besides, she was pretty soft on you. She's like that whenever someone new shows up. There was this one guy after we got to Diamond City. That tall, dark and handsome type. We went out for a drink one night, totally innocent. The next day we met up again and Nat's just happening to be coming back from a friends. And she just stares a hole right through his soul! He got pretty creeped out, but I think she was just testing him. Looking out for me, right? Turns out he was no good anyway. Joined up with a group of raiders not long after."

Sarah frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Hey it's no big deal. So yeah, don't threat about Nat." Piper darted her eyes to the couch. "So about last night. I guess we both fell asleep and well.."

Sarah stood quickly to try and put Piper at ease. "Hey - no I mean it just happened right."

"Yeah, totally! Just wish Nat had a better first glance at you than me holding onto you like a deathclaw snuggling a teddy bear."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I haven't come across that on my travels as of yet."

"Then you haven't lived!" Piper grinned. "It's one of nature's most wonderful sights."

"Uh-huh. I'm going to have to take your word on that."

Piper's grin faltered yet. "I just.. didn't want to make you feel awkward or anything. I know how difficult this has been for you and I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry."

"Piper, seriously, it's okay. You was tired, I was tired, the couch is tiny! I'd rather that then you kick me onto the floor."

"I'm a little surprised I didn't. I do like my space." Piper shrugged. "So we're good?"

Sarah smiled broadly. "Of course we are."

The reporter matched the smile. "Good. I was a little worried there for a moment, especially this morning."

"I couldn't tell. You know. By how quick you ran away and everything."

"Yeah, well, shut up Blue." Piper shook her head, defeated. "Enough wasting time. We've got an appointment with a detective to get too!"

"Lead the way Piper."

 _No, really. My last tour ended up with me in jail._

* * *

Sarah had only just stepped out of Piper's office before a guard appeared before her on the street. _Has the Mayor changed his mind already?_ Thankfully she quickly realized it was one of the guards she assisted the previous day, Rodge.

"Good morning Sarah, good morning Piper."

"Morning Rodge." Piper locked the door behind her.

Sarah smiled. It was nice for her to have civil interactions again. "Good morning. How's Dick doing?"

"A lot better, thanks to you. Doc said he should make a full recovery. He's on rest duty today, that pissed him off, but he's alive and that's what counts. He asked me to give you a message, from all of us actually. Drinks tonight at the Dugout Inn, 9pm. On the house of course. For both of you."

"Ah you certainly know a way into a girls heart." Piper grinned. "We'll be there."

"Good, see you at 9!" Rodge turned and walked away, whistling to himself.

Piper nudged Sarah. "Look at you now. Everyone wants to drink with the hero of Diamond City."

"It's a little weird, given previous things that have happened."

"If you don't want to go it's okay, Blue."

Sarah shook her head. "No, of course not. It'll be good to actually meet some people properly. Besides, a night out without gunfire is probably needed for both of us."

"That's the spirit!"

"I'm not going to have to carry you back, am I?"

Piper grinned. "We'll have to see where the night takes us!"

Sarah groaned. "Famous last words." The two began to walk towards Nick's office, Piper taking the lead. "Are you okay with Dogmeat staying in your place?"

"It's absolutely fine. He's really quite well behaved."

"He is." Sarah nodded. "I can't take the credit there."

"Don't sell yourself short. He's lucky to have you."

"And you. He's got a roof over his head and a day off. If only we were all so lucky!"

"Don't worry. When tomorrow rolls around I highly doubt you'll be getting up. Not if Bobrov's moonshine makes an appearance later."

Sarah grimaced as she saw the devious look on Pipers face. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not." Piper winked as she led Sarah down the alley towards Valentine Detective Agency.

* * *

"Like what you've done with the place, Nick." Piper raised her eyebrows at the sight of the usually pristine looking office. "Very... whirlwindy."

Sarah looked around the office. Boxes were scatted everywhere, with papers all over the desk and floor. Nick was sat at a chair, analyzing a case file. "If you want to do a spot of cleaning, by all means go right ahead."

"I'll pass." Piper approached the desk and looked down at the files. "Anything juicy?"

Nick leaned forward and grabbed the paper before Piper could get a good look at them. "Yes. But not for your eyes."

"Hey come on now, scoops are running dry around here."

"Not interested." Nick pointed towards Sarah. "I thought your scoop was there."

"Hmm?" Piper looked behind at Sarah. "She's a slippery one. Can never find the time to finish our interview. Always got to do something drastic like save old private investigators from lock-up."

"And now I can say it was worth it."

Sarah's interest peaked immediately. "You've found something?"

"Quite possibly." Nick motioned towards the chair as Sarah took a seat. "Your description at the time was very detailed. It reminded me of an old file I had." He motioned to the file in his hand. "This one to be precise."

Sarah stared at the file. "What does it say?"

"A lot of the same things you did." Nick leaned forward, placing his hands onto the desk. "Tell me. Have you ever heard the name 'Kellogg' before?"

"Kellogg?" Sarah shook her head. "I can't say that I have."

"Well Mr. Kellogg matches every physical trait that you gave me - from his height to his build, even down to the scar on his face. I'm pretty certain right now that he's your guy. He's got a reputation for mercenary work and nobody knows who he works for - could be for himself, or for a bigger party. I lean towards the latter. He had a house here in town. But the problem is he disappeared a while back. Nobody had seen him since he left. Not until you say you saw him during the Mayor's speech anyway."

 _Kellogg. Do I finally have a name for you, you son of a bitch?_

"Maybe he was collecting something he left behind?"

"It's possible." Nick turned his head slightly. "Or maybe he was here for you."

Sarah started to become anxious. "For me? Why?"

"That I don't know. Truth is the trail is pretty cold now. But I don't think we can count out the possibility. Especially given what you said about being 'the back up' whatever that is. We're fumbling around in the dark here."

Piper pushed herself off the wall where she was leaning. "What about that house? Got to be worth a look, right?"

Nick nodded. "Absolutely. Right now it's our only lead when it comes to the man. Problem is it was locked down after his departure. And only one man has the key."

"Let me guess." Sarah rolled her eyes. "It's the Mayor."

"Got it in one."

"And he's not going to simply hand it over if I ask him, is he?" Sarah sighed. "I'm guessing it'd be the same for you."

"I just about used up my last favor getting him to allow you back in here."

"I probably won't be much help there either, Blue." Piper looked sorrowful as she tried to come up with an alternative.

"Wait." Sarah's mind clicked into gear. "What if there's a way to get in that house without the Mayor?"

"I'm all ears."

Sarah turned to Piper. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The reporter stared at Sarah before a smile formed on her face. "Using your new found fame for good use, eh? I like it. Yeah, that should work."

"Does somebody want to fill me in here?" Nick tapped his finger on the table.

Sarah began to explain their plans for the evening in meeting the security team for drinks at the Dugout Inn.

"Not bad, not bad at all. It'd be nice for Diamond City security to be helping with a lead for a change."

Piper grinned. "You keep winning people over like this Blue and you'll be running for Mayor before you know it."

Sarah shook her head. "I don't think I'd make a good politician."

"Maybe not. But you'd make a good leader."

As Sarah and Piper said their goodbye's, the two women headed off into Diamond City's market to try and find Sarah a new outfit to wear for the night. Nick sighed as he read Kellogg's file's once more.

"You didn't tell her."

The detective looked up as his secretary Ellie entered the main office, having been working in the back during their meeting.

"Correct."

"Don't you think she has a right to know?"

Nick dropped the file to the table. "We don't know that the boy was hers. For all we know, he could easily belong to another. Hell he could be Kellogg's son."

"But what if the child is hers? What if Shaun was here?"

"Was here. He's not here now." Nick shook his head. "Putting those thoughts in her mind will do nobody any good, especially her."

Ellie frowned. "I hope you're right, Nick." She turned and walked away.

Nick looked at Kellogg's file once more. "Me too."


	16. Dancing Queens

"Are you sure about this?" Sarah looked at herself in the mirror. The dress that she had brought from Fallon's in Diamond City's market was a little more revealing than she was used to, especially in current times.

"Missing all that armor, Blue?" Piper's voice traveled down from upstairs.

"That's a part of it. I feel naked without it. And to be honest, I feel naked like this!"

She could hear the sound of Piper's laughter. "Oh come on now. It's not that bad. Sure it shows a little skin, but surely it's more comfortable than all that weighty leather?"

"That's easy for you to say. You only saw it on the rack. Seeing it on yourself is a whole different thing. And I happen to like that leather, thank you very much."

Sarah turned at the sound of footsteps making their way down the stairs. Piper too was wearing a dress, an elegant black number that looked positively ravishing on her. "Wow."

Piper blushed as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "I could say the same thing about you. You've got nothing to worry about."

Sarah turned back to the mirror. "I guess. It's just it's been a long time since I did something like this."

"I know." Piper's voice was soft, comforting. "But everything's going to be fine, okay? You've got nothing to worry about. All eyes will be on you tonight, that's for sure."

"That's not necessarily a good thing in my book, Pipes."

"No?" Piper smiled as she approached the mirror. "I think all the guys will be lining up for a dance tonight."

Sarah looked into the mirror at Piper. "If they can move their eyes past you, that is."

Piper grinned. "I'm going to take that as another compliment, Blue. You're really making this ol' gal feel good about herself."

"Ol gal?"

"Don't worry Blue, you'll still be the hottest two hundred year old in the room, I swear."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Thanks. I was so worried that wouldn't be the case."

"Don't mention it!" Piper moved towards the door. "You ready to do this, partner?"

Sarah took one last glance at the mirror. "As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

Sarah couldn't help but smile at the cheers as she entered the Dugout Inn with Piper.

"There she is! The hero of Diamond City!" Rodge led the cheering alongside other guards. She recognized a few of them, Danny for one before finally settling on Dick. The man was leaning against the bar with his drink in the air, saluting her as she entered. He pushed himself off the bar and slowly made his way over to her. It was odd to see them all without their usual security attires on. It definitely humanized them in Sarah's eyes.

Dick offered his hand as he reached them, Sarah taking it and shaking firmly. "I'm glad you could make it."

Sarah smiled at the man. "And I'm glad you're looking much better."

"Only because of you." Dick released her hand and motioned for them to follow him to the bar. "You really saved my ass back there. Especially after all that shit with the Mayor. I was an asshole to you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I was an outsider and well, let's just say we both have things to be sorry for. What's important now is we've moved past it and that you're fit and well."

Dick nodded. "Damn straight, I'll totally drink to that."

And so they did. For the first time since Sarah had entered this new world, she finally just let everything go. As the drinks flowed, she couldn't help but laugh and laugh as if she hadn't laughed in years. With Piper by her side, tales and stories from the security team of Diamond City kept her entertained well into the night. As the music began to blare from the jukebox, she felt Piper's hand at her arm pulling her into a spare spot of space. Sarah wasn't much of a dancer, but right then, she didn't care. She followed Piper's moves to a tee, the journalist surprisingly graceful in her actions.

"You're good at this!" Sarah yelled over the loud jukebox as she watched Piper's moves.

"I'll teach you sometime!" Shouted Piper in return, grinning as she lost herself in the moment.

As the music mellowed into a classic slow song, Sarah began to move away back towards the bar but was quickly stopped by Piper. "Nope. You're not going anywhere, Blueeeey." She pulled the woman back towards her. "I need a partner."

Sarah giggled. It had been a long time since she danced with someone else. "You better lead, I'm a little rusty."

"I can do that." Piper's voice was smooth and low. A small chill drifted up Sarah's spine as the reporter pulled her close. She could feel the warmth pulsating from Piper's skin. It was intoxicating.

For three minutes, everything around them disappeared as they moved in time with the song. Only they were present, the outside world shut out to both Sarah and Piper. "This is nice."

"Mmhumm" Piper muttered in agreement. "Do you think everyone's watching us right now?"

"Who cares if they are."

Finally the song ended and the woman separated from each other. The music soon turned rowdier as the guards started to sing together with Sarah and Piper left staring at each other before blushing simultaneously. Sarah glanced over towards Dick, the man taking a seat at one of the tables. "Shall we?"

Piper followed her line of sight. "Lets go for it."

Dick started to applaud lightly as Sarah and Piper made their way over to him. "Quite the show, ladies. Almost brought a tear to the eye."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Sure it did."

"Hey I mean it." The man nodded. "You don't always see something so real around this parts."

Piper stumbled on her words slightly. "Wait.. real? You? What do you mean?"

Dick just smiled to himself. "Forget I said anything. But you look like you have a purpose, I've seen that determination on your face before Piper. What can I do for you?"

"Actually." Sarah interjected. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Dick leaned forward, his hands clasped on the table. "Name it."

"Do you know someone by the name of Kellogg?"

"Kellogg? Yeah. I remember him. He used to have a house here. Upped and vanished a while back." Dick tutted. "Something always seemed off about that guy. Even more so than usual when it came to outsiders moving in. He kept to himself. But he had more than one private meeting with the Mayor, I remember that. Always struck me as a little strange, but McDonough never revealed shit. And then one day, he was gone." Dick tilted his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I need to find him. There are... things I need to ask him."

"I see." Dick analysed the woman in front of her. "Does those things have anything to do with why we had to lock you up in the first place?"

Sarah nodded. "They do."

"Must be important then. So tell me, what are you asking me to do?"

"I need access to his home. I know the Mayor has the key and-"

Dick held up his hand. "Consider it done."

Piper and Sarah glanced at each other, unable to keep the surprise written off their faces.

"Just like that?" Piper asked inquisitively.

"Truth be told I never liked the bold headed bastard. Always rubbed me the wrong way. You? You saved my ass and I owe you. This is simple. He's not here, you are. It's not like you're asking me to burn down the Mayor's office or something."

"And the Mayor?"

"Doesn't need to know." Dick shook his head. "He likes to think he's got his finger on the pulse, but he doesn't. He'll never find out that I helped you."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I do." Dick shrugged before smiling softly. "I hope you can find whatever it is you're looking for."

As the night slowly drew to an end, Piper and Sarah said their goodbyes to Dick and the rest of the security detail. Their plan was set - tomorrow night, they'd investigate Kellogg's house. But for Sarah, an even bigger mission was now at hand.

"Do I have to put you over my shoulder, Piper?"

Piper grinned. "Noooope. I can walk by myself thank you very much thank you maa'm very much."

The two women were interlocked by their arms as they left the Dugout Inn. Thankfully for Sarah, Piper's place was just a short walk away. She too felt herself quite lightheaded, but the realization that she could finally try and find some dirt on the man who had taken so much away from her had sobered her up slightly as she left the drinking hole.

"It's a beautiful night, Blue."

"That it is, Piper."

"And I told you! I told you! Everyone's eyes would be on you." Piper giggled. "Didn't I tell you? Good reasons too." Piper reached into her bag as she fumbled for her keys at the door. "I know you're in here somewhere!"

Sarah smiled. "Here, let me." Taking the keys, she opened up the door and stepped inside with Piper. "Let's get you upstairs."

"Yes maaaaaaaaam." Piper quickly quietened herself. "Oh Nattttt, I forgot."

"She's not here, remember."

"Right!" Piper patted Sarah on the arm. "You're right!"

With a little difficulty, the two reached the top of the stairs before Sarah eased Piper onto the bed. Piper smiled up at Sarah. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Pipes. Get some rest okay? I'll be downstairs."

"You don't have to." Piper patted a space on the bed next to her. "You can sleep here too."

"I appreciate that, but it's fine." Sarah leant forward to pull the sheets over Piper.

"Fiiiiiiiiine.." Piper mused as she closed her eyes and pouted.

As Sarah looked down at the woman, she wasn't sure why she did what she did. Leaning down, she softly kissed Piper on her forehead. "Sleep well, Pipes."

Piper smiled warmly at the contact without opening her eyes. "Blue too."


	17. Ignite

Sarah stretched as she rose from the sofa. Morning had come once more and with it came the hope of answers further on in the day. She looked to the staircase that led towards Piper. She couldn't hear any sounds or movement.

 _Must still be in bed. She'll probably be there for half the day or so._ Sarah smiled to herself. _Considering I haven't done that in y'know, 200 years or so, I feel pretty good. Probably better than Piper anyway. Guess we both needed to let our hair down a little._

Sarah had changed after returning, the more glamorous dress now traipsed on the edge of the sofa. She looked around the room. _If I'm spending so much time here, I should really think about getting a place of my own._ Wandering over to Dogmeat, she knelt down besides her faithful companion.

"Hey boy." Sarah's voice was a little above a whisper to as not to disturb the sleeping reporter upstairs. "Want to go for a little walk?" Dogmeat's head popped up, giving the woman her answer. She grinned as the dog rose to his feet. "Guess that's a yes, then."

Attaching her remaining armor and weaponry, she couldn't help but laugh at the situation. _All this just to take the dog for a walk. Not as easy as it once was._

Quietly she opened the front door to Piper's place, a stream of sunshine filtering in that made her grimace. Dogmeat trotted happily out of the front door, waiting for Sarah to join him. As she closed the door behind him, she motioned towards the steps. "Best do your business outside the city or I'll probably get booted again."

As the two made their way out of Diamond City, Sarah happily shared small talk with the guards by the entrance. The way was clear, there was no current danger around the walls and Sarah would be relatively safe if she stayed close to the city's edge. Saying her thanks, she walked with Dogmeat up and around the turrets that guarded the north side of the stadium. It was a quiet morning. There were no audible sounds of gunfire anywhere near the city.

"Guess the monsters need to sleep too, eh?"

Once Dogmeat gave the all clear, they slowly walked back into the confines of Diamond City. Sarah paused on top of the steps, taking in the full view. Being so early, there was little action happening. She spotted a couple of guards doing their rounds along with the market vendors starting to set up for the daily grind. Her focus fell on one of vendors.

"What do you say boy? Time to bury the hatchet?" Dogmeat simply looked up at Sarah. "Well you're not disagreeing, so let's do it."

The woman was on her knees as Sarah approached, delving into what looked like a box of junk. Sarah cleared her throat. "Er, hi."

"I'll be with you in-" Myrna looked up, her eyes wide. "It's you."

"Yeah. Look I-"

The shopkeeper jumped to her feet. "I want no trouble with you!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Nor I with you. Look I don't know what you think is happening between us but I mean you no ill will."

"Ha!" Myrna barked out a laugh. "That's exactly what I'd expect you to say before you knifed me in the back. I know your sort, your games. But they don't work on me, you hear? Bringing your little robo-dog doesn't scare me either."

Sarah looked down at Dogmeat. "Robo-dog? I don't-"

"I don't want to hear it! You want a piece of me, fine. But when you come for me, I'll be ready. You won't expect my fury!"

"Is everything okay here?" Rodge, one of Diamond City's lead guards was approaching the scene. He nodded towards Sarah with a grin. "Surprised your up so early."

"I could say the same to you Rodge."

"Eh you know, duty and all that." The security guard changed his focus towards Myrna. "What's wrong this time?"

Myrna pointed at Sarah. "It's her. She may have you all fooled, but not me. I know what she is, where she came from. She's a synth!"

Rodge rubbed his eyes. "Once again Myrna, she's not a synth, we've been through this. Not every newcomer that comes through our doors is a synth."

"That's just what they want you to believe!"

"Why do you think I'm a synth?" Sarah asked.

"Because you're so clean, so new, so untouched by all of this! It's obvious."

Sarah sighed. "I can see why you're saying that and you're right, sort of anyway. This is all new to me. But it's not because I'm a synth. I was cryogenically frozen, Myrna. I'm from a different time, a time before all of this."

Myrna narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I was frozen for over two hundred years. My life.. I lived my life before the war that caused all of this. When the bombs dropped, I was there being lowered into a Vault-Tec vault. They froze us and I woke up here."

"Oh." Myrna's voice was hollow. She looked towards Rodge, the man simply nodding. "I thought..." Her voice trailed off.

"I mean you no ill will, I have no issues with anybody here. I'm just trying to find my way, that's all."

Myrna looked down at the floor. "I can't say I understand your situation, I don't and well.. okay. I'm going to take your word. No matter how crazy it might be." She looked up at Sarah. "If you ever want to do any trading, I'll be here. But I'm still watching you, okay?."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you. That's fine. Hopefully, in time, I can earn your trust."

Myrna nodded as she returned to her box of items, Sarah turning to walk with Rodge.

"Well that went better than expected."

Rodge laughed. "You talked her down, didn't think anyone had it in them."

"I'm a little surprised myself. The truth isn't exactly the most believable thing anyway."

"Maybe, maybe not." Rodge bent down to stroke Dogmeat. "But people can tell from the way you speak that you're telling the truth. It's in your tone, the way you carry yourself." He pushed himself back to his feet. "I've never seen Piper so focussed. I've seen that woman with a head of steam on before, but nothing like this. You're lucky to have her on your side."

"Yeah." Sarah smiled. "I am."

"I've got to get back to my rounds. I'll see you later." Rodge nodded to both Sarah and Dogmeat before turning and walking off out of sight.

Sarah looked down at Dogmeat. "Well that's one thing off my morning checklist. Let's go see if Valentine's about."

* * *

Piper groaned as she began to stir, her head pounding lightly as she opened her eyes. Yawning, she looked down at herself. She was still wearing the dress she wore the night before. "Oh god."

The reporter stood tentatively, only wobbling slightly as she tried to gain complete balance. She eased herself towards the steps, lightly taking each one as she made her way downstairs.

"Well hello sleepy head."

Piper grimaced at Sarah's cheerful voice. "There's no need to shout, Blue."

Sarah chuckled lightly. "My apologies." She stood and walked out of sight as Piper reached the bottom of the stairs. She quickly returned with a bottle of purified water as Piper lightly sat down on the edge of the couch. "Here." She passed Piper the bottle, the woman wasting no time in sipping the contents.

"Thanks." Piper looked over to Sarah. "Been awake long?"

Sarah nodded. "Yep. Even been out and about."

"Look at you heading out without a guide."

Sarah rolled her eyes playfully. "I know right? Amazing I could handle it."

"Just don't make a habit out of it, otherwise I'll be out of a job." Piper took another sip of water. "So what have you been up to?"

Sarah took a seat next to Piper on the couch. "I spoke to Nick, filled him in about last night. He's going to meet us at Kellogg's place later."

"Good. The more eyes the better."

Sarah agreed. "Yep. I also spoke to Myrna. Our little feud, if you can call it that, is over."

"Oh wow." Piper actually looked surprised. "How did you talk that crazy old bat down?"

"I told her the truth. Rodge backed me up on it. Seemed to ease her worries." Sarah shrugged. "She had me pegged as a synth."

"She says that to everyone that's new, that's no surprise. Does this mean you're out of enemies around here now?"

"I guess so. Maybe the Mayor, but really, it's looking good."

Piper smiled. "I'm glad. You know, for my reputation. Can't have been hanging around with the enemy for too long without it reflecting back on me."

"I see how it is."

Piper threw out her hands. "Hey I gotta protect this money making enterprise." She looked down at her outfit. "And I've seriously got to change."

"Hey I like the whole sultry dress look, it adds a bit of class to the place."

"Mmhhmm." Piper gulped down more water. "Don't get used to it, Blue. This gal likes her coat too much for that."

"It is a good coat."

Piper winked. "Damn right."

A knock at the door suddenly caught both their attentions.

"Oh lord." Piper grimaced. "Who's firing the fat-man at my house?"

Sarah shook her head and laughed. "I'll get it."

Piper downed more water. "I'm never doing last night again."

"Uh-huh." Sarah rose off the sofa and reached for the door. "Sure." She pulled the door open, revealing a man clad in leather armor. The man saluted suddenly.

"General!"

Sarah stood eyes wide. "Er.. hi."

"Oh wow." Piper giggled from the couch. "I didn't know how much I wanted to see that until then."

The man continued. "It's an honour to meet you, General. I'm glad I've been able to track you down."

"Good? I'm sorry but.. who are you exactly?"

The man lowered his head. "My apologies, ma'am. My name is Richmond Murphy. I'm part of the Minutemen, your Minutemen. I come with a message from Preston Garvey."

Sarah groaned. "Please don't tell me a settlement needs my assistance."

"No ma'am. Preston told me to implicitly mention it has nothing to do with that. Preston asked that you return to Sanctuary at earliest convenience. There are items of a sensitive nature that you need to be informed of."

"Such as?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry General, but that information is above my pay grade. I'm just the messenger."

"Are you due to return to Sanctuary now?"

The man nodded. "Yes, General."

"Tell Preston I'll be back within the next couple of days. There are matters I need to take care of here first."

Richmond saluted. "Very well, General. It was an honour to meet you." He nodded towards Piper. "Ma'am."

Piper attempted to keep the grin off her face. "Godspeed young man!"

The man turned around and walked back purposely up the stairs leading out of Diamond City. As Sarah closed the door behind her, Piper began to giggle to herself.

"Does that happen a lot?"

Sarah grimaced. "It did for the first couple of weeks. But if Preston needs to talk to me in person, it has to be important."

"So... Sanctuary?"

"Yeah. It's where the Minutemen are now based out of." Sarah paused. "Do you want to come?"

"You don't even need to ask me that, Blue. Of course I do. If that's okay with you."

Sarah smiled warmly. "I'd like you to see it."

"Then we have a plan!" Piper stood. "First - I get changed, that's important. Then later we find some dirt on Kellogg. Roadtrip to Sanctuary and then.."

"And then we find that son of a bitch."

"Absolutely." Piper grinned.

* * *

As night fell on the city, Sarah couldn't help but feel the nerves start to kick in as she joined Piper in walking towards the home formally owned by Kellogg.

Piper could feel her apprehension, her question full of concern. "Are you okay?"

Sarah managed to put forth a smile. "Just a little nervous, that's all." She smiled as she felt a squeeze on her hand. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Blue."

As the two reached the steps that led up to Kellogg's house, Sarah couldn't help but notice how secluded the location was from the rest of the city. "It's definitely out the way up here."

Piper agreed with her assessment. "You gotta think that's by choice."

Nick Valentine had already arrived at the house, waiting outside it's door. "Ladies."

Sarah and Piper said their hello's to the detective before the synth continued. "This is new, even for me. Breaking and entering with security and the media?"

"When you put it like that Nick.."

The three didn't have to wait long before they were joined by Dick. The man nodded at all three before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key.

"Any trouble?" Asked Valentine.

Dick shook his head. "None." Her put the key into the lock and turned it. "I'll leave you to it. I'll be out here when you're done."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you."

As Sarah took her first steps into Kellogg's home, a chill went up her spine. The house wasn't anything special or unique, but just the knowledge that the man made a home here made Sarah's blood boil. "Let's split up, take a look around."

"Good call." Nick motioned for the stairs. "I'll take the upstairs."

And so they searched. The house was mostly untouched as if the occupant just upped and left one day without returning. Unfortunately for the three of them, nothing stuck out as something that could potentially help find the man.

"You find anything, Nick?"

"No." The synth's voice came down from upstairs. "Just old junk, nothing that'd help in finding him."

"Damn it." Sarah whispered under her breathe. "There's got to be something here." She continued to search through a wrack of items, mostly old bottles as Piper searched through old paperwork in a desk draw.

"Well what do we have here?"

Sarah shot a glance at Piper. "You've found something?"

"Certainly looks that way." She waved over Sarah before shouting over to Nick. As they joined Piper at the desk, they quickly saw what Piper was motioning towards. A small red button was hidden into the desk.

"We've got to press it, right?"

Nick analysed it's surroundings. "Let's just hope it's not a bomb."

"Gee I didn't even think of that Nick, thanks!" Piper threw her hands into the air. "Blue?"

"Push it."

Piper winced as she pushed the button. "Here goes nothing."

Thankfully for Sarah, Nick, Piper and the rest of Diamond City it wasn't a bomb. It did however open up a secret passageway to the left side of the front door from which they came in at.

Sarah quickly pulled Piper into a hug. "Oh you beautiful woman, you!"

Piper blushed extensively before stumbling slightly over her words. "I, well, thank you. Let's get in there already!"

Sarah pulled away. "Right you are." She stepped towards the open passageway, checking for traps as she did so. "Looks clean."

As she stepped into the room, this is where she imagined Kellogg spending most of his time. A series of books lay strewn across a shelf with an armchair near by. She whistled as she looked at the shelving to the right. "That's quite the arsenal." Sarah wasn't kidding. A whole host of pistols and rifles remained in the room with boxes full of ammo sat just underneath the weapons.

"I'm surprised that Kellogg would leave so much of this stuff here." Nick noted as he checked the weaponry.

"Er, Blue? You should see this."

Sarah turned, following her eyes to what Piper was showing her. The reporter was holding up a holodisk. A lone label simply stated 'Backup' on it. Sarah shuddered as she remembered back to the vault, staring him directly in the eyes as he approached her pod.

 _"At least we still have the backup."_

Sarah took a deep breath as she accepted the tape from Piper. Opening her pipboy, she inserted the tape and waited. A few seconds of crackling emerged before finally, she heard his voice once more.

" _I figured you'd get in here sooner or later. No surprise given the fire that you clearly have. But this is where it ends. The end of the road. As you can see, I'm not here, but you already knew that didn't you? Oh the look on your face. Heh. I've been around for a long time now but I've never seen anything like that, that was true hatred. But I guess you being here means you got out of the jail one way or another, so maybe a congratulations is in order. It's a shame it was for nothing. You'll never see me again. You'll never see Shaun again. So move past this. Start a new life. Settle down. Have another kid. Do whatever you want to do. But put this behind you. Because it's over."_

As the message finished, Sarah took a seat on the lone armchair in the room.

"Blue?" Piper's voice was quiet and reserved.

"I don't know what I was expecting." She raised her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Maybe I got my hopes up too much. Thinking there would be something here that could lead me to him. And yet there it is." She removed the holodisk and dropped it to the floor. "It's just a game to him. Nothing more then something for him to play with and discard, just like my family." She looked towards Nick. "There's nothing else here, is there?"

The synth shook his head. "The rest of the room is clean."

"That figures. He always intended me to find this. Just another way for him to try and fuck me over."

"We can't give up hope, Blue. There's got to be-"

"There isn't!" Sarah yelled. "This is his way of saying thank you for playing, but it's goddamn over. Where's the trail? Where's the next line of inquiries, huh? Do we have another lead because this one just died!"

"I.."

Sarah shook her head. "I.. I didn't mean to snap at you Piper. It's just-" The tears flew freely now as they locked eyes. "Why is he doing this to me?" Sarah's voice broke as the pain soared out of her.

Piper knelt down in front of the chair. The reporter too began to cry. "I don't know, Blue. But please, don't give up hope. Not yet, not now." Piped pulled Sarah into a hug, the two women dropping onto their knees on the floor.

As tears were shared the day that had offered so much hope slowly faded away as the darkness took over Diamond City and those that were in it once more.

* * *

 **So for me & this story that was quite a longer chapter! So where do they go from here? Sanctuary beckons but what now in the search for Kellogg? **

**As always - thank you for your support!**


	18. Walking on sunshine

Sarah and Piper left Diamond City three days later, with Dogmeat trotting in front of them as normal when they set out on their journey to Sanctuary Hills. It had been a tough couple of days for all involved in the hunt for leads on Sarah's missing son, Shaun. The tears on the first night took a long time to dry, with sleep proving to be even more illusive. As Sarah finally closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, only then did Piper attempt the same. The reporter hadn't left Sarah's side from the time they had left Kellogg's house, up until the moment the sole survivor fell asleep on Piper's bed hours later.

Sarah was however brighter on the third day. While Piper could tell that the toll of the previous days was still weighing heavier on her mind, Sarah at least seemed to regain a little bit of her usual spark. Piper was hopeful of Nick discovering a new lead while they were gone, something that could reignite the fire completely once more in their search. But she was pleased to see that Sarah valued her role in the Minutemen and was eager to find out why she was needed in Sanctuary, something that most definitely piqued Piper's interest as well.

As they said their goodbyes to Nick and Nat in the morning, Sarah seemed almost back to her normal self - at least on the outside. She was appreciative of Nick's continued efforts, believing that he'd do all he could to try and track down another lead.

And then Nat had hugged her. Sarah hadn't expected it in the slightest. Nor did she expect the three words that Nat whispered to her.

"I trust you."

It took a lot for Sarah to keep her composure, but she did, thanking Nat and promising to take care of her sister. Piper simply looked on proudly, tears of her own starting to well up in her eyes.

Their journey was always going to be slow. It was a long trip back to Sanctuary, full of many dangers and threats along the way. Thankfully they had now grown accustomed to each other in the wide emptiness of what was Boston, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. It allowed them to plan their routes, know when to take the shot and not to, and sometimes simply when to wait out the danger or try and take a different route completely.

The trip back to Sanctuary wasn't one to be done in a day. Sarah mentioned a place called 'Greygarden' where they could rest overnight, somewhere that Piper was unaware of. Piper did however note the wry grin that was written onto Sarah's features when she talked about it, noting that she'd simply see when she got there. Piper was a little apprehensive but trusted Sarah not to have them rest in a dangerous area.

"It's just over there." Sarah pointed ahead. It was almost dark, so resting up was soon to be a good call.

"I don't see it, Blue." Piper searched for a building of some kind. It had to be a building, right?

Sarah laughed. "It's right there, Pipes. The greenhouse? Come on now."

"The..?" Piper caught sight of it. "A greenhouse? We're sleeping in.. a greenhouse?"

"Not quite. There's a small little shack behind that I built. I don't think the occupants would be too happy if I slept in the actual greenhouse. I'd totally be in the way."

"Wait." Piper looked at Sarah. "Occupants? Like.. people?"

"Not quite."

As Piper followed Sarah across the small stretch of grass that lead towards the greenhouse, she finally caught sight of the occupants that Sarah had mentioned. "They're all robots?!"

Sarah grinned. "Yep. Welcome to Greygarden. Trust me, it's cool. I sorted out something for them a while back." She caught the look on Piper's face. "You don't hate robots, do you?"

"What?!" Piper's eyebrows shot up. "No! It's just, surprising, that's all. That they're here, doing this, even now."

"As if you thought someone else would have moved in by now and taken the place by force?"

Piper grimaced. "Pretty much."

"Don't let 'em fool ya. They can pack a mean ol' punch. Here. Let me introduce you. You never know, there might be a story or two here. Imagine the things they've seen over the years."

As Sarah introduced Piper to the residents of Greygarden, Piper couldn't help but notice the spark that Sarah had when talking to those that she had helped. She genuinely card, whether they were Human, robot or something else in between. If someone needed assistance and Sarah could help, she would. Piper was constantly amazed by the efforts that she went through, knowing how much pain she was in without her family.

A few hours passed before they found their way to the bed in the small wooden shack.

"You built this yourself?"

Sarah grinned. "Scared it might fall down in the middle of the night?"

"Of course."

The sole survivor shook her head. "Ye of little faith. I'll have you know I've slept here twice and I'm 85% sure we'll be fine."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "85%?"

"Well you know, I don't want to come across as cocky or anything."

"You? Never." Piper grinned.

The homemade shack did not collapse, so as the new morning dawned both Piper and Sarah were alive and well as they woke in Greygarden. The bed was small so it was a tight squeeze, but it was something that neither of them found uncomfortable. As the sun started to shine through the cracks in the wood, Sarah woke and squinted, raising her hand to block out the sun. Feeling the movement next to her, Piper opened her eyes and smiled.

"Looks like you missed a hole, Blue." Piper had her back to the hole in question as she lay facing Sarah. The sunshine lit up Sarah's face beautifully. It almost took Piper's breath away.

"It's a natural alarm clock. I included it on purpose."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Sure it is, Blue." She stared at the Sarah's hair, noticing a clump of dirt. She reached out and pulled it away. "Sorry. It was distracting me."

Sarah smiled. "Better now?"

Piper stroked her hair softly. "Looks like it's all gone." She continued to move her hand down until her thumb brushed Sarah's cheek. Sarah felt a small shiver up her spine at the touch. "Thank you for bringing me, Blue." Piper was focused on Sarah's hair as she continued to stroke it softly. "I know I've said that before. But you don't know how much you trusting me enough to come along with you means to me."

"I'd take you anywhere, Piper."

Piper stopped stroking Sarah's hair and locked eyes with the woman. A second passed before she burst into laughter. "Oh my god that's the cheesiest thing you've ever said."

Sarah pretended to pout. "Here's me being honest and kind and this is what I get in return? Pfft."

Piper's laughter began to slow. "Oh come on now, admit it. It was cheesy. Sweet but cheesy."

"Maybe." Sarah shrugged. "But I mean it."

Piper blinked, her laughter gone completely, as had her smile. She stared at the woman, deep into her blue eyes. "I know."

And that's when Piper kissed Sarah.

Sarah's eyes widened. She hadn't expected it. But she returned the kiss. That however seemed to instantly make Piper pull away. The reporter sat up suddenly. "Oh my god. I can't.. I'm so sorry." Piper jumped to her feet. "I can't believe I did that. I.. you.."

Sarah sat up calmly. "Piper."

Piper shook her head. "You trusted me and I.. I'm so stupid. I'm here and.."

Sarah stood up and reached out for her. "Piper."

"You offered me friendship and I'm just-"

Sarah grabbed Piper by the shoulders. "Piper."

Piper stopped talking and moving. Her cheeks were bright red as she stared at Sarah.

"For a reporter you're not always the most perceptive."

And that's when Sarah kissed Piper.

* * *

 **Sorry it's been so long!** **I'll try not to let that happen again.**

 **So we're going to be back at Sanctuary next and.. yep :D**


	19. The price is right

"Well it looks like you're both winners tonight!"

In the years to come, long after this day had been remembered as a special and fond memory in both of their minds, Sarah would admit that nothing since has quite spoiled the mood like being interrupted by a Mr. Handy that had been programmed to believe it was a game show host during her first kiss with Piper.

It was an extremely awkward moment. And she'd had many before and since. But on that day, it wasn't going to fade quickly.

"Oh god." Piper broke away and stared at the Mr. Handy.

"Perverted robots, great, now that's everything off my checklist of things to find." Sarah shook her head. "No offence, but can you leave?"

"Certainly!" The robot cheerfully responded. "Thank you for playing. Come back tomorrow for more action and adventure with even more prizes up for grabs!"

 _I hope he's not talking about us. There'll be no more action for him to see!_

And so the robot left the door of the makeshift shack, leaving Sarah and Piper alone with only themselves and their thoughts. Sarah looked towards Piper, an embarrassed smile on her face. "So that happened."

"What, the robot watching you kiss me, or you kissing me?" Piper was clearly flustered. Sarah's response didn't help ease that.

"To be fair, you kissed me first."

Piper groaned. "Oh god."

"And then I kissed you back."

The reporter turned a deep shade of red. "You did."

"You okay there?" Sarah teased. "I know I'm two hundred years out of practice and all, but it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Yes! I mean.. no!" Piper shook her head. "It was great. And great!"

"That great, eh?" _Still got it._

"But Blue, you, we-" Piper threw up her hands. "You're married! I-" Piper shook her head and let out a breath. "I didn't mean that, I just-"

"Piper." Sarah reached for the reporters hand. She didn't expect Piper to dive into such a flustered state. "Look at me." Piper shook her head, trying to avert her eyes before she felt a soft hand on her chin guiding her eyes towards that of the sole survivors. "You know me. I only do things I want to do. I wanted to kiss you. So I did. And I wanted you to kiss me. In fact I want to do it again."

Piper somehow blushed even more. "But if you're not comfortable with that, it's okay."

"No, no. I- liked it. But Blue, I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to take advantage of you."

Sarah smiled. "Come on now. We both know you already did that by pouncing on me at the gate of Diamond City."

Piper pushed her away gently. "Hey!"

"Listen to my words, okay? Even more so, look here." Sarah held up her hand.

"Your ring." Piper blinked. "It's gone?"

"I took it off two weeks ago. Thought you might have noticed by now, being such the intrepid reporter you are." Sarah grinned. "It was a comfort blanket. But I don't need it anymore. It's a symbol of the past. You know that Nate and I weren't happy."

Piper nodded, listening closely to Sarah as she continued. "Truth is I stopped loving that man over two hundred and one years ago. That's enough time to move on, don't you think?"

Piper nodded. "I guess so."

"So I figured a fling with a reporter would be the way to go."

"Hey!" Piper's eyes widened but quickly softened as she saw the teasing smile written onto Sarah's features. "When did you become such a tease?"

"I've always been a tease, Piper. You're just too flustered to remember."

"I am not flustered." Piper grimaced. "I'm fine. More than fine."

"You're great?"

"I'm great!"

Sarah chuckled. "Good. I am too."

A small silence passed between them.

"It's just.." Piper motioned to Sarah before back to herself. "I've never.. and your lips are so soft."

Sarah leaned in closely to the reporter's ear. Her voice sent a shiver up Piper's spine. "Oh yeah? Well then.."

Their lips met once more. It was soft, gentle, with care and affection. This time there was no rush, no robots, no embarrassment.

"Mm." Sarah grinned as they separated. "Keep that up and I'll melt like butter."

"Butter?"

"Never mind."

"Okay then." Piper stroked her fingers gently down Sarah's face. "What now?"

"Well, I'd quite like to spend all day with you here." Even more blushing from Piper. Sarah wondered how long it'd last. _Hopefully a while. It's so damn cute._ "But we've got fresh daylight to take advantage of. Lets get to Sanctuary Hills, yeah?"

Piper smiled. "Okay. Oh, and Blue?"

"Yeah?"

Sarah was surprised as Piper grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her quickly into a fierce kiss that separated all too soon. Piper winked. "Try to keep up."

 _Oh that sounds like a challenge I like._

As the two left Graygarden (with Supervisor Greene announcing that they'd won a free car as they did so), the road to Sanctuary treated them well. It was quiet, only encountering a few mole rats along the roads. Despite what had happened, both were concentrating on watching out for each other like nothing had changed between them. Now wasn't the time to hold hands and walk, to skip into the sunset or smooch against a tree - it was a dangerous world that could kill them in seconds.

As they passed through the town of Concord, Sarah noted facts about the area both from before the war and more recent times when saving Preston Garvey and the settlers that now resided at Sanctuary Hills. She pointed to the now re-attached grate in the road where the Deathclaw had emerged from as they passed, heading up the hill past the Red Rocket stop where she had first encountered Dogmeat. Piper listened closely, asking questions when necessary until she set eyes on what was in front of her.

"Sanctuary Hills." Piper said quietly to herself. A Minuteman flag flew proudly across a bridge next to a set of barricades. She could see two guards point towards them before shouting off into the distance. One of the guards set forth from his station across the bridge towards them.

"Welcome back, General!"

Sarah smiled. "Thank you. Is Preston here?"

"No, General. He's off on a supply run. Should be back shortly though. I'll let him know you've arrived."

Sarah nodded. "Thank you."

"Sturges would like to talk to you too, ma'am. I'm sure you'll see it first anyway, but still, he asked to speak to you."

 _See it first? Hmm._

"Very well. I'll see him now."

"Excellent." The man saluted before returning across the bridge.

"Wow, Blue." Piper shook her head. "This is all so.. efficient."

"You doubted my excellent general.. generalizing.. skills?"

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Well I do now. Guess I better be on my best behavior."

Sarah laughed. "Don't worry, I'll get you amnesty."

"Thanks. So, should we? I mean, if you want to and all. General." Piper stood up straight. "Can't have them think you've gone soft."

"That's the good thing about being the General, Piper." Sarah pulled Piper closely towards her, until she was mere inches away from the women. "I rule with such an iron first they don't dare question me." Sarah's tone was low, her face deadly serious.

Piper burst out laughing. "Oh god, Blue." She buried her head into Sarah's chest. "A part of me wishes that was true, just to see it with my own two eyes."

"The night is young, Miss Wright. Who knows where it could yet take us." Sarah kissed the woman, feeling the warmth as it was returned. She took Piper's hand as they walked across the now repaired bridge into Sanctuary.

* * *

 **Hello! You thought the last chapter would be it, didn't you! I did too actually. I'd ran out of steam, basically because I stopped playing the game. Even traded it in. But now I've found a bit of fire again for this, so here we go, we keep going! A little chapter to ease myself back in. We've got some important times ahead.**


	20. Home comforts

_I'm sure you'll see it first anyway._

The Minuteman wasn't wrong, it was hard for Sarah to miss. As she made her way up the now empty road that was once filled with destroyed shells of cars, fallen lampposts and varying other types of debris, her eyes were immediately drawn to it.

Her home, the place she had lived more than two hundred years ago, was no longer in tatters. There were no holes to see, no gaps in the foundations. While it wasn't pristine and new like it once had been, it was once again complete. A new door, heck, even a coat of paint had been added to parts to try and touch up the home.

Piper seemed to catch on quickly, offering a supportive squeeze of the hand as they made their way towards the house.

For Sarah, it was something she never expected to see again. When she had emerged from the vault, the shock over-powered her. She couldn't take in the magnitude of the situation. Days later as she wandered through the empty rooms, she couldn't help but picture what felt like only days before, images now long forgotten in time. Yet she felt like a stranger, intruding on something that wasn't hers. Except it was hers. But it could never be that again.

She hadn't asked for it. But she was touched, so touched, that the men and women stationed in Sanctuary Hills would do that for her. As she looked around, she saw other houses taking on a state of repair, but nothing to the level that her own had gone through. It stood out.

"Ah! Miss Sarah, welcome back!" Codsworth swiveled from his usual positioning outside of the house and greeted her as they stopped in front of it. "Isn't it wonderful? As good as new I say. I hope your travels have treated you well?"

"More ups than downs, Codworth." Sarah smiled. "I can't believe they went through all this trouble." She turned to her companion. "This is Piper. Piper, Codsworth. He was with us before all of this."

"Charmed, Miss Piper."

"Hello to you too." Piper greeted Codsworth. "I bet you could tell me some good stories about this one here."

"Oh indeed. Quite the fan of singing in the shower is Miss Sarah. Quite good at it, too."

Sarah blushed. "Nobody needs to hear about that." _This is going to be problematic._

"I do!" Piper grinned.

"Nope. As General, I'm laying down my authority. There will be no discussions of my singing. Understood?"

"Of course, mum."

Piper mock saluted. "Yes, sir." She quickly checked her surroundings. "Nobody's going to be offended by that, are they?"

Sarah shrugged. "I have no idea."

"You're the worst General." Piper rolled her eyes. "Haven't you read the manual?"

"Don't think there is one. I thought you would realize by now why I keep you around. Clearly you're going to write one for us." Sarah teased.

"Sure. I'll put it on my to-do pile. Only four hundred and fifty things to do first, so I hope you don't mind waiting for a bit."

"I can wait."

Piper grinned. "Patience, I like it. You're going to need that."

Dogmeat yawned as he slowly trotted away to take shelter in the doghouse that had been moved to the side of her home. _He's had a long trip. Deserves a bit of rest too._

"Is Sturges here, Codsworth?"

"I believe he's currently working within the old Whitfield residence. Would you like me to fetch him for you?"

Sarah shook her head. "It's fine. We'll head over there ourselves."

"Very well. It is good to have you back, Miss Sarah!" Codsworth said cheerfully as he floated away.

"So your own butler, eh Blue? Fancy." Piper nudged Sarah in the arm. "What is it with you and the Mr Handys?" Her expression changed to that of a more serious nature. "You okay?" Piper gestured to the house in front of her. "I take it this is yours?"

Sarah nodded. "It is. When I came out, it was.. well, you know. A mess. Like many others. Codsworth was still here, doing his duties, keeping people away from it. Two hundred years of that." She looked at the closed door. They had yet to go inside. "Now I look at it, and it's a home again. Not a constant reminder of what once was." Sarah shook her head. "Lets find Sturges. I think I have him to thank for this."

As they made their way towards the house that formally belonged to the Whitfields, it gave both Sarah and Piper a chance to look around and take in their surroundings. For Sarah, she saw many new faces working within the fields of crops that had grown exponentially since she had last been here, as well as those fixing up the old houses. She spotted Marcy working hard within the fields, briefly stopping to wipe her brow as she returned the crops at her feet.

For Piper, she was taking in hope. Hope that people could rebuild, even thrive in this world. It offered her happiness, knowing that places like this existed outside of Diamond City's walls, without the violence that overshadowed places such as Goodneighbor. And she didn't forget who was responsible for all of this. The warmth filled her heart as she came to a stop next to the woman that was almost always on her mind.

Sarah hesitated as she reached the door. She was used to simply walking into the other houses to talk to Sturges, Mamma Murphy, Preston and the others.

 _I guess I have to knock now?_

Raising a hand to the door, she tapped three times on the wood.

"Come in!" A muffled yell was heard, clearly that of Sturges. Sarah opened the door and stepped inside, Piper following immediately.

"Sturges?"

"In the back!" The man yelled as Sarah set forth through the house. It was looking a lot better too. While it hadn't gotten the care that her house clearly had been given as of yet, it once again actually resembled a home. All of the walls were patches, with the windows too no longer simply open holes in the side of the home.

They found Sturges in the bedroom, working on what looked to be a makeshift bed frame made from wood, tires and a couple of barrels. "Getting tired of sleeping on the floor." The man said with a grin as he pushed himself up. "It's good to see you again, boss." He offered a hand which was immediately met. "I didn't worry, but you know how it is."

"It's good to see you too, Sturges." Sarah smiled warmly. She motioned to Piper. "This is Piper Wright. Piper, meet Sturges."

The two shook hands warmly. "Any friend of Sarah's is a friend of mine."

"Likewise." Piper smiled.

"Did she save your ass too?" Sturges chuckled.

"Actually, it was more of me saving hers."

"Really now? Well that does make a change." Sturges said impressed.

"Hey now." Sarah grimaced. "That's not exactly the whole story."

"Well the whole story is long and complicated. Lets just leave it as me saving you, okay?" Piper grinned at the woman to her left.

"Well I'd still like to hear it sometime." Sturges nodded respectfully.

"I'm sure that could be arranged."

"No tall tales, Piper." Sarah said as she turned her full attentions to the man. "I wanted to come by and say thank you. You didn't have to do what you did."

"Don't be silly, of course we did. You saved us. Everything here we have because of you. It's the least we could do."

Sarah smiled genuinely. "Thank you, really."

"You're very welcome." Sturges took a breath before shooting a quick glance towards Piper. "The request you made before you left? It's completed."

"It's okay, Sturges." Sarah turned towards Piper. "I asked him to make a coffin for Nate."

"Oh." Piper blinked before realising. "Oh. I see. Because.."

"Because he's still in the vault, yes. And I can't leave him there." Sarah shook her head. "Not for another two hundred years." She turned her attention back towards Sturges. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. We made a makeshift stretcher, so we can, you know. I'd like to assist you, if that's okay. Preston too said he'd like to help."

Sarah smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Preston should be back any time now, so if you want-"

"It's fine. We can wait until tomorrow."

Sturges nodded. "Very well."

Sarah shook off the thoughts running through her head. "Anyway. I know you're busy, but what's been happening around here?"

"What hasn't been happening. Well as you can see, there's more of us. The radio beacon attracted quite a fair few folks. We had to vet them of course, especially with the raiders who'd love this place for their own. Fortunately with the Minuteman presence here, they've thought better then to try and take this place. Although.."

"Although?"

Sturges grimaced. "A group tried to take Vault 111. A patrol noticed them there, a group of about six. We don't know whether or not they were trying to make it an outpost, or to use it to potentially attack us at a later date, or even to try and strip out some of the old technology. Four were killed by Preston and some of the other Minutemen, two got away. Hopefully they'll think better then to try that again."

 _Even more reason to get Nate out of there and at peace. I wish I could do the same for the others._

"Did they actually make it down into the vault?"

Sturges shook his head. "We don't believe so. Truth is, we don't know for sure. We didn't want to go down there because, well.."

"The door?"

The man nodded. "We remembered what you said about leaving it open. No idea if it closes or not after a time. If it's still open, but closes when we're down there?" Sturges shuddered.

"We'll take a team to sweep the vault tomorrow before the service." Sarah tapped on her pip-boy. "We'll be fine."

"Sounds good. Do you have a plot in mind?"

"I'm thinking behind the house. He loved sitting in the garden. After he came back, he found it more peaceful than being inside." Sarah looked to the floor. "It as good a place as any."

Sturges bowed his head respectfully. "Very well. I'll have work started on it immediately."

Sarah smiled softly as Piper squeezed her hand. "Thanks. I'll let you get back to things. Again I appreciate everything you've done around here, Sturges."

"Just trying to earn my keep." Sturges said with a small chuckle. "It's good to have you back, boss. Nice to meet you too, Piper."

Piper smiled warmly at the man. "Oh-" Sarah shook her head quickly. "I almost forgot. Er, is there a ghoul here by any chance?"

The vault tech rep, Paul, that they had met in Goodneighbor had been due to come back to Sanctuary Hills. She only hoped that he made it, and had not been turned away.

"Paul!" Sturges beamed at her. "Yeah he's here. He's a great guy. Gotta be honest, we were a little concerned at first. But he explained the situation with you in Goodneighbor, and your past. That's wild."

"So he's settled in okay?"

Sturges nodded. "Absolutely. He's a big hit with the locals, telling old stories. You can tell it means a lot to him. I don't think he's had many people to talk to. He's actually with Preston now, volunteering on the supply run."

Sarah smiled broadly. "That's great news. Anyway, thanks, I'll let you get back to it."

"I'll see you out. Will talk to Dander about the plot."

 _Dander? Oh right. Yeah. I have a lot more names to learn don't I?_

As they exited the house, Sarah took Piper's hand once more as she led her down to the stream of water near where they crossed the bridge into Sanctuary. It was no longer filled with junk and pieces of a former home, in fact it contained what looked like a water draining device that led up to the surface.

 _One of Sturges inventions I have no doubts. That guy is crazy good with tech._

Sarah climbed onto the wall and took a seat to face the stream, with Piper doing the same. The reporter gently lay he head onto Sarah's shoulder, which earned a smile from the sole survivor.

"You must really mean a lot to these people, Blue. With everything they've done."

"It's overwhelming to be honest. I just did the right thing. I didn't expect all of this."

Piper smiled. "And that's one of the many reasons why you are so amazing. You say that like anybody would do it. That's not the case."

"It's just.. I don't want to come across as ungrateful."

Piper raised her head to look at Sarah. "What do you mean?"

"This, the house, all of it." She motioned to her surroundings. "What they're doing here is amazing. It's so great to see a thriving community here, after what I first encountered. But it's not my home anymore. That house once was mine. But now? I don't feel any connection to it. It deserves to give others hope."

"You deserve hope too, Blue."

"I've got hope." Sarah held her hand up to Pipers cheek. "Every time I see you, I know it. I feel it. You fill me with hope. Hope that this world can and will be better."

"I-" Tears began to fill Piper's eyes. She had never heard words directed towards her that were filled with such truth, such beauty. "Look at this, it's not acceptable." She laughed as she tried to swat the tears away.

"I disagree." Sarah leant forward, her lips softly pressing against Pipers. The reporter pulled her close, holding her tightly as they explored each others mouths.

Finally they broke away, Sarah softly wiping away a tear from Piper's cheek. "Hope there's still room on that couch for me back in Diamond City?"

Piper smiled as she pressed her hand over Sarah's heart. "Always."


	21. Natural

_This probably shouldn't be so hard. I mean, this isn't the first time. Nowhere near the hundreth time. You've done this before. You can do this again._

Despite there being no lock on the front door, opening it wasn't an easy thing for Sarah to accomplish as she stood on the doorstep of her now repaired home. Feeling the support of Piper by her side, she finally took in a deep breath and pushed it open, stepping inside for the first time since she'd left Sanctuary Hills to find answers. _And I found so much more than that. I found her._

Sarah didn't spend much time previously in the ruins of her home, not compared to the time before the bombs dropped. But yet her mind did not travel and compare to that period of time over two hundred years ago, simply it remembered the last time she was here, before she made her choice to fight on. Her eyes were drawn to everything, wanting to take it all in at once. The kitchen countertops in front of her were clean, almost as shiny to the day that she had picked them out. The floor, previously littered with debris, was clear, with a new rug laid down over a scorch mark on the floor. The couch had been stitched up where it had been damaged and almost looked as good as new, despite everything that it had been through over the years.

As she made her way through the house, Sarah didn't speak with her words, but the emotion on her face was plain to see. Piper was silent too as she followed by her side, trying not to impose on a matter that was deeply personal to Sarah. She had considered staying in the doorway and waiting to be given the okay to proceed, but Sarah had squashed any thoughts of that and quickly took her by the hand. Piper wasn't quite dragged, but she quickly realised that the homeowner didn't want Sarah leaving her side as she wordlessly gave the reporter her first tour.

The crib in Shaun's room had been repaired. Sarah stared at it for a moment, her eyes starting to well up before she shook her head and turned to walk to the bedroom. Piper's glanced lingered on the crib before she turned a moment later, joining Sarah in the bedroom.

The bed was new, with a hand built wooden frame. It was definitely a step up from what Sturges was working on for himself. The mattress looked firm and thankfully, clean. Two pillows lay carefully at the top of the bed, a large blanket sitting folded at the bottom. Sarah glanced towards where her windows used to be, now boarded up. It was only then that it struck her.

 _There's light.. everywhere! How.. where.._

"Hey, lights!" Sarah stuck her head out of the door. She spoke in genuine wonder. The entire house was wired with them. "I didn't even notice at first." She blushed, embarrassed at her shock of lighting being the first words she said out loud since entering.

Piper smiled softly, trying to ease the heat rushing to Sarah's cheeks. "There's a generator switch in the main room. My guess is it controls everything. Probably a house on, or off, situation, Blue. But still, it's more than a lot of places have."

"Yeah." Sarah spoke softly. "I wonder where they.. they shouldn't have, really. It's too much."

"Hey now." Piper pulled her close. Sarah stopped gazing and instead stared at the woman in front of her. "You heard what they said. One day soon, you're probably going to have to accept the truth that all these folk are saying about you."

Sarah smiled softly, it was more of embarrassment than anything else. "I don't think I'll ever be able to do that, Piper."

Piper softly stroked Sarah's cheek. "You wouldn't be you if you did. Still, I have enough of an ego for the both of us."

Sarah laughed. "That's true. I'm glad you're able to pick up the slack in that department." She yawned, trying to stifle it, but was clearly unsuccessful.

"My oh my, now that's an attractive face." Piper prodded her softly with a cheeky grin. "You need to get some sleep." Piper's voice softened, all humour drifting away. "You've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

Her companion nodded. "You're right. I-" Sarah frowned slightly. "Is it weird that I want to ask you to sleep close? I mean, we've shared a bed before, but not since, well, you know and-" Sarah blushed. "Why am I making such a hash of this?"

Piper grinned again. "I don't know, but it's pretty damn cute I tell ya, Blue. Besides, you don't ever need to ask. If I recall from Diamond City, you wanted to get close to me back then!"

"Er." Sarah held up a hand to correct her. "Actually. You're the one who snuggled up to me, Piper. Before Nat found us and all. Being such a fancy reporter, you seriously need to sort your facts out. Can't have errors like that leaking into your headlines."

"Pah! I dispute that claim. I have a pristine fact checking record, thank you very much. And Nat certainly doesn't say the same thing as you." Piper rolled her eyes. "But if you don't want it, well-"

Sarah was quick to prove otherwise. She launched at the reporter, colliding their lips and cutting her off as Piper welcomed her advances, replying passionately as she griped Sarah tightly. They toppled onto the bed, each giggling as they broke apart with Sarah slightly pinning Piper to the bed from above.

"Proved my point, Pipes?" Sarah grinned down at the woman.

"Maybe." Piper licked her lips softly. Her breath was ragged as it tried to catch up. "And now?"

Sarah could sense Piper's hunger, but equally, her apprehension. She felt it too. Neither had ever been in a situation such as this before. It was completely new territory, and such a new development that both were fearful about moving to fast.

"And now." Sarah adjusted Piper and herself so she could spoon the reporter from behind. She whispered closely to Piper's ear, feeling the shiver that came her way. "I get my revenge."

Piper let out a breath. "For future reference, Blue. That? Yes. I approve."

Sarah grinned. "Good to know." She pulled Piper closer, feeling her melt into her touch. She didn't know if Piper had ever been held in such a way, but she seemed to approve non-the-less. Sarah's hand rested on Piper's stomach softly before slipping slightly under her shirt to feel Piper's soft skin on her fingertips. Piper shuddered slightly at the cold touch, but quickly relaxed, enjoying the feel of her rested hand on her skin. Sarah gazed down Piper's body, really noting it in such a way for the first time. She bit her lip. "Have I ever told you what a great ass you have?"

Piper barked out a laugh. Sarah felt the laughter as it rocked against her body. It filled her with warmth. "Gee, Blue. Blunt much? And no, no you haven't. I've kinda been waiting to hear that you know. Won plenty of awards in Diamond City for it. Kinda upset it took you so long to notice."

"Award winning journalist and an award winning butt? How did I get so lucky?"

"Well," Piper shrugged slightly. "I've never been awarded for my journalism. Unless you count death threats. Actually, I do, scratch that. I've received over a hundred rewards!" She wiggled her ass slightly, knowing that Sarah could feel it. "You just wait until you see it without all the layers."

This time it was Sarah's turn to laugh. "Now who's being frank, Piper?"

"Don't pretend you don't love it. 'Course, you gotta be work for it. Save a few more settlements, rescue a few more brahmins outta trees, save Diamond City from super-mutants-"

"I've already done that last one?" Sarah pointed out. "That counts, right?"

"Mm." Piper pondered it. "Okay, sure. I'll count it. Best get cracking on climbing those tree's. Trust me, it's worth the effort."

"Oh I don't doubt it." Sarah smiled. She was glad that Piper was on the same wavelength. Their humour had gelled from the start, and was easily accessible, especially in their new situation. It's true that both were eager to see where things would go from here, but were both equally as cautious. "You ever seen a brahmin stuck in a tree before?"

Piper yawned. "All the time, Blue. All the time. C'mon now, I won't make it impossible for you."

"You're too kind, Piper." Sarah couldn't hold back a yawn of her own. "At least I know what I'll be dreaming of now."

Piper's eyes lit up as she turned slightly to meet the Sarah's gaze. "You dream of running wild through the fields as a brahmin too?"

Sarah grinned. "Who doesn't?" She leaned in and softly kissed Piper's lips before they returned to their comfortable spooning position. It wasn't long before both of their eyes closed as they drifted off to sleep, together and united.

* * *

 **Little interlude here. The next chapter is quite an emotional outing, so I'm trying to get it just right. This was supposed to be part of it, but I extended it and am putting this out now to give you all a little something at least! Thanks for sticking by me with this. I know there's long gaps and all between updates. But I'm trying to get things moving!**

 **Talking of getting things moving - I haven't decided yet about future, well, fluffy stuff. Piper and Sarah - they're going to get closer. And originally when planning out this story in my head, I was going to bump up the rating to M for strong sexual content. Now - this isn't a given, as I said, I'm yet to decide on what to do. What would you prefer? I'll definitely take feedback in mind when it comes to it. One thing's for sure - I won't be writing paragraphs upon paragraphs of erotic fiction, just isn't my thing. It'll be along the same tone set in this story. The scenes would simply shift given the rating - if it stays at T, the scenes will leave more things as an unspoken sort of thing, you know how it is. If it's bumped up, it'll be graphic and honest, just you know, not six paragraphs long.**


	22. Let it blow, let it blow, let it blow?

**14 months later.**

Piper narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the scene. "It's not right. It's not big enough. Or wide. Maybe both? She'll think I'm not being serious." She shook her head and pointed. "It's, no, argh!" Piper threw up her hands in frustration as her sister, Nat, looked up at her in bemusement.

"Piper, relax. It's fine. It's by far the best one we've ever had." She laughed quietly to herself. "I've never seen you like this before."

"But not the best she's had, that's the problem! And well, yeah, you know it's a little different this year." Piper tapped her foot quickly. "I should have prepared earlier. Got things done sooner! Leaving it this late? It was bound to be a disaster!"

"A disaster?" Nat rolled her eyes. "Okay, now you're just going overboard. Everything that's happened in this past year, and this, this-" Nat pointed to the object of Piper's annoyance. "Is the disaster?"

The reporter sneered. "Well, you can have more than one disaster, you know. Sure, those other things might have been on a bigger scale, but oh, this is up there with the worst of them."

"More of a disaster then the time you were kidnapped by an army of synths?"

"Well, no." Piper shrugged.

"Or that time you were held hostage by Mayor McDonough? What is it with you and getting caught by synths?"

"Er, no, not that either."

Nat grinned. "But definitely the third worst thing, right?"

"Absolutely!" Piper's eyes lit up. "Totally in the top three."

Her sister shook her head. "You've never acted like this before, why now?"

Piper sighed. "It's because, well, you know. Last Christmas passed by in a flash, we didn't even realise it at the time."

"Yeah I remember not getting a present."

"Hey I've said sorry more than once." Piper blushed.

"I know, I was just messing. You were busy, you both were." Nat smiled proudly. "And look what you've done since. You've changed our world for the better. You gave us the gift we all wanted, Piper, that extra bit of safety as we lie in our beds at night. Sure, there's still a multitude of things out there wanting to kill us. But the boogiemen? They're gone. And that's all thanks to you."

Piper smiled softly. "More like it's all because of her. But thanks, kiddo. That means a lot. But that's why I'm so stressed. Last year, we were swallowed up in everything. Now? Reality has kicked in and with it, comes this. Our first real Christmas together. I just want it to be perfect."

"It will be, Piper. You're just over-thinking everything." Nat teased. "Like always."

"It's just that she's experienced it all before all of this. The wonder. The lights. The stories that she told, that Paul told when we were in lockdown. How it was the most magical time of the year. Even the bad guys took a day off then, certainly can't do that here."

"You can't think about what was, Piper." Nat shook her head. "Sarah has moved past that. You can't lock yourself in those memories either, not while you have so much living to do in the here and now."

Piper laughed softly. "When did you become so wise?"

"I've always been the wise one. Well, at least until you decided to bring a stray home. That was a pretty good decision." Nat motioned around them. "And now look at where we are, Piper. We've certainly moved up in the world, haven't we? All this space. Who'd have thought we'd be up in the stand?"

"You ain't kidding. It's still weird, right?"

"Oh yeah." Nat nodded. "Totally weird." They both turned to the sound of the front door being opened. Dogmeat ran into the house happily as always, carrying a fresh bone in his mouth. He went straight for Nat as soon as he saw her who greeted him with fuss, love and affection. Sarah followed behind, a tired look on her face that almost instantly vanished when she was what was in front of her.

"Wow." Sarah's smile lit up the already brighter than usual room. "That looks fantastic." She turned to Piper as the knocked the door shut behind her. "You did all this?"

Piper rubbed her hands together nervously. "You're just saying that, Blue. It's lacking isn't it? Should have made it bigger, somehow. More lights? I don't know, they were all out. I should have got it up earlier, but you know, we only got back two days ago and then you had to deal with all the-" In the middle of Piper's excuses, she hadn't noticed Sarah making her way over to her with a huge grin on her face. The kiss that interrupted the reporter soon brought her back to reality as she returned it passionately, completely forgetting what she was about to say. Sarah had that effect on her.

"Ew, gross." Nat's nose crinkled up. "Come on Dogmeat, lets give the mortal enemies some alone time." Dogmeat wagged his tail happily as he followed Nat out of the room.

The kiss broke apart as Sarah stroked Piper's cheek softly with her hand. "She still calling us that?"

Piper blushed. "Yeah. It's kinda true though, Blue, given our respective roles these days."

"I guess so." Sarah's eyes lit up. "Sleeping your way to the scoops, Miss Wright?

"Seemingly not." Piper frowned. It was difficult with the soft tough of Sarah's skin on hers." You haven't given me any hot gossip recently, _Mayor_ Miller."

"Oh?" Sarah whispered closely to Piper's ear. It still to this day drove the reporter crazy. "I'll be sure to give you something to sink your teeth into later."

Piper closed her eyes and shuddered. "Not. Fair. Blue."

"You think you're tingling now, well, wait until I get my ton-"

Piper put a finger over Sarah's mouth. Her partner grinned as she was stopped from going any further. "Shush! You're distracting me from my Christmas tree drama."

Sarah softly kissed Piper's finger and reached up to take her hand. "You have nothing to be concerned about, Pipes. I love it. Almost as much as I love you."

"I love you too, Blue." They softly kissed once more. "And that's the right answer, rare from a politician."

Sarah chuckled. "I try my best. Where on earth did you get baubles from for the tree?"

"Oh those?" Piper blushed. "I kinda just painted some baseballs that Moe had. You couldn't tell? Phew. Bonus points for me."

"Er, Pipes." Sarah's eyes widened. "They're normal baseballs, right? Not the ones he's turned into grenades?"

Piper gulped softly. "...yes?"

They both turned and looked towards the tree in apprehension. "After everything I'm going to be taken down by a bloody Christmas tree."

Piper rolled her eyes and tapped Sarah on the shoulder. "Oh don't be so over dramatic. It's fine. Totally fine." She placed a hand on her hip. "You're not going to make me take them down, are you?"

Sarah blinked. "If they're grenades, yeah!"

"You've let power go to your head. First as the General, now as the Mayor.."

Sarah groaned. "Okay, fine. But can we at least, I don't know, check.. or just ask Moe? I could summon him and all. Mayor power."

"Remember what I just said about power going to your head?"

"Right, sorry. Long day." Sarah slowly tipped her way towards the tree and placed an ear close to one of the painted baseball-baubles. "I don't hear ticking."

"It's not a bomb!" Piper shook her head in exasperation.

"I know, just check the others, alright?"

Piper sighed. "Fine." She too stepped over to the tree and began to listen closely to the baubles. "I don't hear anything."

Nat cleared her throat. Clearly she'd re-entered the room in all the commotion. "You two are so weird. Is this some kind of old tradition? Listening to the tree?"

"Yes. Yes it is." Piper said. "Don't upset Blue by making fun of it, come and join in."

"Oh. I, well, okay." Nat blinked. "Sorry, Sarah." She wandered over to the tree and began to listen closely, trying to make up for the error of her ways.

Piper and Sarah's eyes met. Sarah couldn't help but shake her head at the wicked smile on Piper's face. "Merry Christmas, everyone."

* * *

 **WAY FUTURE CHRISTMAS FUN BECAUSE.. WHY NOT!**

 **Let's be honest, given my track record with updating, this story probably won't get this far into the future. So here's some future stuff! Maybe we'll get there, who knows!  
**  
 **Merry Christmas ya'll! Hope you all have a great time. See ya in 2017. Thank you for all your support this year.  
**


	23. Farewell

**14 months earlier.**

Sarah stirred as she woke thanks to the knocking at the door. She smiled for a moment, looking over at Pipers back as she lay still sleeping, unaware of the knocking. It was something that she'd missed, a simple knock at the door.

Piper groaned. "You gonna get that, Blue?"

Sarah smiled more as she leaned over and kissed Piper on the forehead. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was. Until the knocking." She grabbed at Sarah as she tried to rise from the bed. A tired, but happy smile was on Pipers face. "Where do you think you're going?"

"You told me to get the door!" Sarah laughed as Piper frowned.

"Not without this." Piper pulled Sarah close as her lips crashed onto hers. The kiss was full of passion and hunger as their tongues quickly discovered one another. Piper moaned as Sarah deepened the kiss, her hands gripping Sarah's ass as she squeezed it tightly to pull her closer. Sarah gasped at the action, one of her own hands slipping under Pipers shirt to cup her right breast. "Blue." Piper moaned her name as she felt the touch.

Once again there was a knock at the door, this time a little louder.

"Fuck." Sarah gasped as their lips separated.

"Yeah." Piper looked up at the woman on top of her. "Though we did kinda hear the knocking."

"Shh." Sarah pulled her hand from under Piper's shirt and placed a finger on Pipers lip. "It's still their fault."

"No doubt." Piper grinned as she kissed Sarah's finger. "Raincheck?"

"I thought I had to do a laundry list of activities first?"

"You did them in my dream. It totally counts."

Sarah grinned. "Good to know." She jumped up from the bed. "Best go and kick whoever's ass is knocking on my door."

Piper rolled onto her front and leaned onto her hands. "Give them a swift kick in the knee for me too."

"Of course." Sarah winked and turned, making her way for the door. She pulled down her shirt as it had risen slightly during their wake up and opened the door.

"General." Preston Garvey grinned. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Preston." Sarah smiled. _Better if it'd been an hour later and all, but, yeah._

"How have you been?"

"Very well, thanks. You?"

Preston nodded. "Excellent. Things are really going well around here, as you've undoubtedly seen. I'm so proud of the way that the Minutemen are coming together once more. The Commonwealth have heard tales of you and it's only helping our cause."

"Doing what I can. You guys though? Helluva good work. Sanctuary looks fantastic. Well done."

"Thank you, General. There's some things I need to go over with you. But it can wait, until after the service?

 _Shit. Nate's service. Of course._ "I wondered why you requested me."

"I hope I didn't worry you, General. It wasn't my intention."

Sarah held up a hand. "It's fine, Preston, really. We can talk after, if you're sure?"

Preston stood firmly. "I'm sure. We have more important matters to attend to today. Sturges, Dander and myself are ready and willing whenever you're ready."

"Okay, thanks. Give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?"

"Take all the time you need, General." Preston turned and walked away as Sarah closed the door.

"You okay?" Piper leaned against the door frame, peering around the corner.

"Yeah I'm fine. Preston and the others are ready whenever I decide to go to the vault."

Piper walked over to Sarah and took her hands. "You don't have to go down there, Blue."

"I do, Piper. I owe him that much."

Piper smiled softly. "Okay."

"I'd like you with me, if that's okay?"

The reporter pulled her into a hug. "Absolutely. I'll go anywhere with you. Everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Sarah stepped out of the house, Piper quickly following behind as she pulled the door to. The sun was shining, no signs of any clouds in the sky.

"Perfect baseball weather." Sarah spoke quietly to herself as Codsworth floated up to her.

"Good morning, Miss Sarah, Miss Piper. I hope you both slept well on this fine day?"

"We did, thanks Codsworth."

"Excellent! But I know this day will be hard for you. If you need anything of me, all you need to do is ask!"

"Thanks, Codworth." Sarah smiled. "I appreciate that." She glanced over at the doghouse, it was empty. "Where's Dogmeat?"

"Your companion is currently walking around the neighbourhood, but don't you worry, we're keeping a close eye on him!"

Piper grinned. "He'll keep their security forces in check. Up to your standards, boss."

"He better, otherwise no treats. I'll see you later, Codsworth."

"Very well!"

Sarah made her way across the street with Piper next to her. Sturges and Preston were talking amongst themselves. At their feet was a makeshift stretcher and a large blanket. She smiled as they turned to meet her.

"Morning Sturges, Preston."

"Good morning, ladies." Sturges smiled.

"Preston Garvey, this is Piper Wright. She's a reporter from Diamond City and, well.." She glanced at Piper. The reporter had an amused look on her face. "She's my girlfriend?"

"Oh, Blue, you romantic you." Piper laughed and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Garvey."

Preston shook her hand. "Please Preston is fine, Miss Wright."

Piper didn't immediately correct Piper, a raised eyebrow from Sarah pushing her. "Oh, fine, you can call me Piper."

Preston chuckled. "Piper. Good to meet you." He glanced between the two of them. "I guess your trip was worthwhile then."

Sarah shrugged. "It was alright." She grinned as Piper nudged her side. "Fine, it was pretty alright."

"That's better." Piper nodded proudly.

Sarah looked down at the stretcher. "We should do this."

"If you're ready?" Preston motioned for Dander to join them. Both Sarah and Piper greeted the young Minuteman as he arrived. "Sturges told you about the party that tried to take the vault, right?" Sarah nodded. "Like he said, we're pretty sure none of them got down there. Still, it's best to be on the safe side."

"Absolutely. We're armed and ready. But lets hope it doesn't come to that."

"Of course, General." Preston checked his laser musket. "On your word."

"Lets go."

Sturges reached down and grabbed the makeshift stretcher. Piper offered to carry the blankets but he shook his head, noting that it was fine. Instead, she gripped Sarah's hand as they walked together towards the vault with Preston in front and Dander bringing up the rear.

Sarah caught movement to her left and was surprised to see Paul, the Vault Tech Rep, making his way towards them. He'd ditched his former attire and was now in a Minuteman uniform. Sarah smiled at the site. "Paul. It's good to see you. I'm so glad you made it."

Paul saluted. "General. It's good to see you again."

Sarah blushed. "You don't need to salute, it's fine, really. You've settled in well here?"

"Oh yes. Sanctuary Hills have been very kind. Very kind. I'm so glad you told me to come." Paul clasped his hands together. "But I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can I come with you? To the vault? It's my fault. All my fault. I can't make it right, but please, let me help."

Sarah reached out for Paul and squeezed him on the shoulder. "None of this is your fault, okay? You can't think like that. Of course you can come."

"Thank you." Paul sniffed. Sarah didn't know if ghouls could cry, she certainly hadn't seen one do it before, but she could tell Paul really appreciated her words.

As the team made their way up the hill towards Vault 111, Sarah whispered closely to Piper. "I know you've been asking, but I feel I need to ask too: are you okay?"

"Me? Yes, Blue. I'm fine. I mean, this is all so.. it's hard to find the words. But you wanting me here, it means so much. I feel so torn. I know what we're doing here today, but selfishly, I thank this place for bringing you to me. I'm sorry if that makes me sound like a bad person."

"No, it doesn't." Sarah squeezed her hand. "I'm thankful too."

The team came to a halt at the top of the hill, just in front of the platform. "Anyone been down there on our end?"

Preston shook his head. "No. We didn't go down out of respect."

"And just in case the door shut behind us." Sturges added. "None of us have one of those fancy pipboys after all."

"If anyone can get a vault door open without one, it's you, Sturges."

Sturges smiled. "You flatter me. But even I have my limits."

The journey down was done in silence. Sturges, Paul, Dander, Piper and Preston all gazed upwards as the lift travelled down. Sarah on the other hand stared forward, waiting to once again enter the facility that had saved her life.

 _And taken so much at the same time_.

The elevator came to a stop, the gate opening before them. The vault door was still open, just the way that Sarah had left it when she emerged from the vault those months ago. She stepped forward first, her pistol gripped in her hand. "We'll do a sweep first, backwards from how I exited. It'll end up at the cryo chamber."

"We're with you, General."

And so Sarah led her team through the vault. First through the corridors where she'd been attacked by multiple radroaches and into the office of the overseer. She grinned as she remembered, leading them over to the weapons cage. The case on the wall was still sealed, the large peculiar looking gun still present.

Piper tilted her head. "What the hell is that?"

"I have no idea." Sarah answered honestly. "But I've wanted it ever since I saw it. Think you can do something, Sturges?"

"Oh absolutely. Give me just a tick."

Two minutes later the gun was hers. "Now we just need to discover what it does. Maybe not here?"

"I can take a look out on the surface if you'd like?" Sturges asked as he passed the weapon to Piper, the reporter offering to carry it as he still had his hands full.

"Sounds good." Sarah glanced at Piper. "The safety's on, right?"

Piper shrugged sheepishly. "Probably?"

"Just don't aim at us, okay?"

"Can do!" Piper said with a proud smile.

The rest of their trip through the vault was quiet. As expected, nobody else had made it down to the vault. Sarah brought them to a stop just outside of the cryo facility. "This is it." Sarah licked her lips and turned to face the group. "Can you give me a minute?"

"Take all the time you need, Blue."

Sarah walked into the cryo facility, the door closing behind her. The team waited silently until she returned, a little over five minutes later. Sarah's eyes were red, but still she smiled to try and reassure them. "Okay." She led them into the vault, to the open cryo facility at the end of the room. She nodded, giving the signal for Dander, Paul, Preston and Sturges to move Nates body onto the stretcher. Sarah sniffed back the tears as Piper held her waist, Sarah's head soon resting on her shoulder. Piper could feel tears of her own forming in her eyes as Dander and Paul lifted the stretcher at either end, a blanket now covering Nate's body as Sarah slowly led them out of the vault.

* * *

"Nothing can ever prepare you for this. Even back in the world that we once knew, this very superb that was once so different, it's never going to be easy. There's never words that you can say that will fit perfectly, exactly as they should be, to do what you want said. You can practice, you can try and perfect them, but later you'll think I should have said this, or I should have said that.

This, now, here? It's not how he'd have wanted it. He'd have wanted his ashes spread from the top of the green monster, even though I don't think the brass at Fenway would approve of it. But this isn't his world anymore. And for the longest time I tried to fight this place, to say it's not mine, but you know what? It is. So I'm sorry, Nate. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the send off that you deserved. You were a good man. And yes, our paths did divert in the end, but you never let it affect you negatively like it could have done. You were still a good man, the best man I ever knew. You gave me a wonderful son. You loved him with all your heart, I know that and he loved you. I'm sorry that neither of you had the time together that you should have had.

Wherever you are now, I hope you're at peace. Maybe you're looking down on this and thinking.. what did they do to my favourite ballpark? You're probably a little concerned at my growing stash of ammo. But I think you'd like the people I've met here. Who came here with me.

This isn't a traditional service. Tradition is long gone. But you served your country with pride and for that, I, we thank you. You loved your family with grace, with care, with honour.

I'll always love you, Nate. Nothing will ever change that."

Sarah lowered her head. The shots rang out as the Minutemen raised the rifles, firing into the sky three times. Kneeling to the floor, she grabbed a handful of dirt and dropped it down onto the coffin. Stepping back, she nodded as two Minuteman began to fill in the grave. She watched as they did so as Preston motioned for the people to disperse. Only Piper remained silently at Sarah's side waiting, caring, supporting.

* * *

"That was a beautiful speech, boss." Sturges smiled sadly. "You did him proud."

"Thank you." Sarah tried to match his smile. "It wasn't easy."

"But you did it and that's what's important." Sturges nodded across the way. Piper was in an animated three-way conversation with Preston and Paul. "She seems a hell of a gal."

"She is." This time Sarah did smile genuinely. "I'm lucky to have her here."

"Just don't let her fire this gun if I were you." Sturges motioned to the floor. "Seems to be like some type of, well, freezing gun. Now I don't know what the hell to use for ammo, but I'll definitely try and figure it out for you. I'm calling it the 'cryolator'.

"You just thought of that? I was going to call it the freezefucker."

Sturges held up his hands. "Okay, you got me. I may have sneaked a peek at the side panel. It says 'cryolator' there, so I guess that's what it's called. Though I actually prefer your name. Freezefucker. Catchy."

Sarah laughed. "I've got a future in weapon marketing undoubtedly."

"That you do. So, real talk, boss? You're not staying, are you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"I can see it written all over you. You've got things to do, places to be, that little boy to find. It's totally the right call. Just know that we'll always be here, in case you need anything. You've grown so much since you initially saved our asses. It's clear to see. You were uncertain then. Now? You know your path. And because of you, we have a chance. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."

Sarah smiled proudly. "You never have to thank me. Just continue doing what you're doing, Sturges. I'm proud to call you a friend."

"You too, boss."

"I need to speak to Preston about some Minuteman business, hell, that's why he got my ass up here in the first place. I get the feeling we'll be here for a-"

The explosion caught everyone off guard. The panicked shouts soon came as gunfire exploded into life. Sarah fell to the floor, hitting her head as she did so. She grimaced, her gaze woozy as she tried to push to her feet. She could hear Sturges yelling, trying to get her up.

She caught sight of the bodies falling. Mamma Murphy was caught right in the thick of it. She had no chance to run. Jin and Marcy raced for her, but it was too late. They were caught in the crossfire as their lifeless bodies hit the ground.

Sarah screamed as Sturges pulled her away. "We've got to move, Sarah, now!" He raced with her, almost dragging her before Sarah's legs came to life. "Where's-"

"Blue!" Piper yelled as Sturges raced to Piper and Paul. Dogmeat soon joined them along with Codsworth as Preston began firing off into the distance. Sarah couldn't see who they were shooting at.

"Sturges, get them to the East exit! I'll cover you!"

"Right!"

Sarah pulled away. "We have to save our people!"

"General, we need to get you out of here. We're being overrun! There's no time."

"No, I can't leave!"

"Blue." Piper grabbed Sarah. "We need to go." Her eyes pleaded with Sarah. They weren't soldiers. They weren't prepared for such an ambush. Not on this night.

"Fuck! Go!" Sarah hated herself for saying it. "Get as many as you can with us." Sarah knew it was fruitless. They were loosing. They had to go.

Sturges ran for the East. There was no signs of trouble there as he shouted. "We built in an escape hatch. It's well hidden, leads to a trail. They won't know about it, I'm sure. I hope so anyway. Otherwise we're fucked." Sarah followed with Piper, Dogmeat, Codsworth and Paul. Preston brought up the rear, shooting as he ran.

They reached the wall, Sturges uncovering the secret hatch. He opened it and poked his head out. "It's clear."

"Then go, now!" Preston yelled. "I'll buy you some time."

Sarah's eyes widened. "You're coming with us!"

"I'm afraid not, General. Someone has to secure this gate. It can only be locked from this side.

"Fuck that! We can make it without it!"

Preston shook his head. "No, you can't. Go, now." He smiled sadly. "That's an order, General."

Tears filled Sarah's eyes. "I... thank you, Preston. For everything."

"It's been my honour, General."

Piper pulled Sarah through the door, Paul and Dogmeat quickly following behind with Codsworth being the last one out. Sturges pointed to the path as the door slammed shut behind them, the sound of a lock being turned once again. Preston's lazer musket came to life as Piper pulled Sarah away, following Sturges through the trees as the Minutemen put up their final stand as Sanctuary Hills fell around them.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long.  
**


	24. Stolen

**Journal of Piper Wright #7. Entry #27. No flashy title this time.**

 _It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Life has a funny way of taking over sometimes._

 _One minute you're on top of the world and next, you're lucky not to be six feet deep under it. Don't I know that more than ever now._

 _Since I last updated this thing.. it's hard to even know where to start. We were on the road, blue and I. She took me to this crazy place full of robots and yeah, well, I kissed her._

 _I don't know what took over me. But she was there and I just.. I wanted it so much. I needed to have it. So I did._

 _I thought it was the biggest mistake I'd ever made. Turned out, it wasn't._

 _She wanted it too. Blue... Sarah, she wanted me too._

 _Now I'm blushing again. Damn it. This certainly isn't the time for that._

 _And so we kissed again. And I was so happy. We went back to Sanctuary Hills, her home before the war. And it… it…_

 _Why am I doing this?_

 _ **Fuck**._

 _It was so promising. People we working together to create something special. The Minutemen were.. they were... pulling together. Helping their fellow man. To see that on this scale, outside of Diamond City, was amazing._

 _I got to meet those who had helped Blue. They kept her going after everything and made sure she got to Diamond City._

 _To me._

 _The Vault was creepy. To know that it felt like just a couple of months since she'd gone down there, with her family. I was honored she allowed me to come with her. To see the place that had saved her life, but also took away the biggest part of it._

 _She was so strong at the funeral service. I was so proud of her for speaking, for putting herself across that way. I don't know if I could have done the same in her position. No. I know I couldn't have. She's stronger than I am. Stronger than anyone I've met before._

 _Foolishly it felt like the start of something new. Something better. I should have known._

 _And then it happened. I still can't get my head around it. One moment and.. it all changed. We were attacked. I still don't know who. Raiders? Mutants? The Institute? I just knew I had to get her to safety. She's too damn important._

 _Sturges led the way through the clearing. There was hardly any of us following him. Paul. Blue. Dogmeat and Codsworth. We left so many behind._

 _So many took a stand to protect us, to protect her. Like Preston. I'd only just met him, but I could tell straight away that he was a man who'd lay down his life to do what's right._

 _I wish that it hadn't had to be, though._

 _We reached a junkyard. It had a dead sentry bot inside. Blue asked if Sturges could get it working, get it on our side. She was furious. Those were her people being… slaughtered. For nothing. She wanted to head back there and get them out._

 _Sturges said he couldn't. They'd already tried before, when looking for potential escape routes and found this place. But in their error, they'd destroyed it._

 _We could see the fires burning. I could see the same fire burning in her eyes. She wanted to go in guns blazing, to fight, to protect. It was her nature._

 _I tried to calm her but she didn't want to hear it. I.. it was hard, seeing her like that. I know she wasn't cold on purpose. But I'd never seen that side of her._

 _I can't blame her. I want to find those people too. To hurt them for what they've done._

 _But a suicide mission isn't the way to go._

 _She was silent for so long. Thinking. Analysing._

 _But then she said one word._

 _It caught me so off guard._

 _Now, at a time like this, Blue? You want to dance?_

 _She shook her head._

 _Not dance._

 _ **Danse**._


End file.
